Valentines Day Gifts w/the Planet in Mind

If Valentines Day is an important day for you or the one you love; then you can also show a bit of extra love for the environment by carefully considering what you buy. Here’s some ideas:

 

– Cards made from recycled or tree-free paper (this will be indicated on the card)

– Consider sending an e-card instead using one of the many quality services around.

– Fair trade and/or organic chocolate

– Choose organic and/or locally grown flowers

– Make a donation to an environmental organization on behalf of the person.

– If you wish to give jewelry, consider pre-owned or purchasing from jewelers who are certified to be sourcing precious metals and gemstones in an ecologically and socially responsible manner. Or considering something really offbeat like a wooden ring – they look amazing.

– Buy the person a gift certificate for holistic therapies i.e. massage, naturopath, health spa.

– Arrange dinner at a local restaurant specializing in organic or locally grown food. Eating locally cuts down on food miles.

– Perhaps make dinner yourself using locally grown ingredients, accompanied by a nice organic wine. Set the mood with earth-friendly candles. The effort you put in will be sure to impress!

– Book a retreat in a wildlife reserve, park or natural area. Your business will help support the running of such establishments.

– Give natural perfumes and fragrances. Popular mainstream fragrances are chemical cocktails. By buying natural fragrances, you’ll be showing you not only care for the environment, but the person’s health.

Eco-Friendly Living

Furniture may be less expensive for consumers to buy these days, but the environmental impact it has is not so good. Along with deforestation, modern furniture also often contains highly toxic chemicals, which are poisonous to the earth as well as the consumers that buy them. For those of us who want to keep our homes as green as possible this doesn’t mean our homes have to be vacant. 

 

There are many ways to keep our green homes furnished with greener furniture without further negative impact on the environment. All we need to do is learn where and how to look for it.

1. Second hand. Some people consider second-hand furniture as filthy and unusable. In reality most used furniture is very usable. True it will need some cleaning, but so does regular furniture. If used furniture looks used (chipping paint, rough around the edges) a little cleaning, sanding and eco-friendly finish can make it look new all over again. That is the wonderful thing about furniture, in most cases, it can be restored and reused. Second hand furniture can be found in local places like consignment stores, antique stores, friends’ and family members’ homes, flea market or online in places like craigslist, freecycle. Or let Simplify Your Life provide your more eco-friendly furniture.

Be careful when considering second-hand mattress and sofas. Avoid reusing these types of furnishings unless it is second-hand/hand-me-down from someone you know well.

2. Reclaimed lumber. If you must buy wood furniture buy furniture made of reclaimed lumber. Furniture made of reclaimed wood can come from a number of sources: other old furniture, flawed wood, houses, wood scraps, sunken logs, etc. This helps avoid the use of new wood, especially from tree species that are endangered. Look for the Rediscovered Wood Certification label from The Rainforest Alliance.

3. Restore. Just because your furniture looks old and ragged doesn’t mean it is no longer useful. The furniture you have now still has plenty of life left. All it needs is some TLC so have it restored. Do it yourself or hire Simplify Your Life to do it for you. Yes, it may be a bit more expensive to hire a restorer than to just buy a new piece of furniture, but remember you are doing it for the environment and you now have the choice to give your furniture a new look.

4. Buy furniture made of recycled material. Just about everything can be turned into furniture. I’ve seen rulers, milk jugs, skies, street signs, clothes, etc., recycled into a new piece of furniture (table, chair, sofa, bench, etc). Recycled materials require less processing and fewer resources. All you need to do is make sure that whatever recycled furniture you buy or find is durable so that you won’t want to trash it in a year or two.

5. Bamboo made furniture. Bamboo (a grass, not a tree) is a strong material for making furniture. Bamboo grows fast and usually grown using few or even no pesticides. Consider it the next time you go shopping for furniture.

Simplify Your Life is always here at your service for all your eco-friendly needs!

Hanging Art

 

Displaying art falls into a few well defined categories:  large art hung individually, groupings of multiple smaller pictures, art collage which includes a mixture of art and dimensional objects and mirrors.  In the groupings category there could be further ‘sub categories’ like stairwell art, family photos or black and white.  One of the most personal choices made in decorating a home is the selection of art.  Much more so than a sofa or table, art says something about your view of the world, about your color and style preferences, and your hobbies and interests.   A gallery of family photos on display. Photo via BHG.com

Art as a Single, Grouping, or Collage

Photo via House to Home.com

How you display your art says something about your personality.  If your home is filled with walls with a single piece of art, it could be saying you like order and simplicity; it might be implying you haven’t got time to do more than add a single piece; it could be that your home doesn’t have a lot of wall space and single pieces fit the walls better.  Displaying your art in a grouping says something about you too.  It might say you have a good eye for scale; it might say you have too many pieces of ‘single’ art but want to display all the pieces you’ve collected; it might say you love the color…blue…and want to hang all your lovely blue things; it might say you love to travel and show off your lovely travel photos; it might reinforce your symmetrical (or asymmetrical) design style.  Whatever the message, hanging art in a group can be a fabulous statement for a room.  In a couple weeks I’ll share some designer tips for creating an art grouping – what to include/exclude, how close together to hang the pieces and more.

An art collage; photo via Miss Mustard Seed.blogspot.com

A display collage is a blending of art or pictures with other elements.  I think it can be the most interesting as well as the most fun to assemble.  If you’re intimidated by the idea of adding something unexpected to your walls, follow this series and I’ll be sharing some very successful collage efforts.  Maybe you’ll be inspired!

Stay Organized at School

Many kids these days are not organized or pretend to be not organized. One way or another their forgetting to do their work or losing it. This is very preventable. All anyone has to do is try to be organized!! There are many ways to do that.

Buy a planner. Write down all the school work you have to do and then write the due date. That will be a little reminder. You can also write down when you want to study or the day of a test! Anything that you would like to remember about the school day. Some schools provide planners to students so in that case you will not need to buy one.

Buy a binder and folders! Color coordinate the folders by each subject. E.g.: Language Arts (red), Math (blue), and so on. Keep all the school work from each subject inside it’s own folder so everything isn’t so messy. You would also want to color coordinate notebooks, too. Another good thing is to buy a homework folder so you won’t be taking all your folders home. It saves up space in your backpack. Keep all these things in your binder so you won’t lose any of them in the hallway or at home.

Focus more in class and take notes. That will help you know when due dates and tests are. Plus, you’ll be learning more by paying more attention. Remember, listen more than taking notes.

Right when you get home, start on your homework. You can have a little snack first, but that’s it. Go to your planner and check all the homework you have due the next day. Do that first. Then, you can start a little work that you have to hand in later on after.

After that, put everything back in the right folder, close your binder, and put it in your backpack. That way nothing is lost.

How To Organize Your Home with Pets!

Have you ever noticed that having pets is like having additional people living in your home? They have toys, supplies, beds, and recreational accessories to keep them busy.  Instead of your home staying organized it is getting cluttered and before you know it, your pets will be running the house! The same organization that you strive to accomplish for your family should be the same for your pets.  Here are organization tips that will keep your home stay neat and help you regain your sanity.

• How much stuff do they need: This tip can be applied to any task when you are organizing. How much do your pets use on a regular basis?  How much is novelty or one-time belongings that can be thrown away or given to a neighbor? The reality is, if you want to organize you will have to purge.  Dog owners for example tend to house a lot of toys, and supplies and many of the items are in disrepair or don’ get used. Even cat owners have balls, and toys for their cats which roll under the couch and become lost anyway! Purge so you can organize what your pets really use.

 

• Find organization sources: Consider buying pet organization sources that help house supplies, belongings, and toys.  At organization or pet stores look for household containers made just for pet supplies. Storage containers that hold plastic bags, leash, hair brush and other accessories are perfect for dog owners. Pet stores and online pet suppliers have catalogs full of accessories to help you get your home in order. Assess your pet needs and supplies and buy what is appropriate to your household.

 

• Dedicate a space or room to your pet: Depending on the size of your home, consider dedicating a space to only your pet. This area can be a mudroom, basement, garage or utility closet. Include closed storage bins for dry pet food and pet dishes in an out of the way place. Store pet toys in clear bins or baskets for easy access. Leashes, pet brushes and maintenance supplies should be adjacent to pet toy area. When all supplies are in one area, the rest of your home will benefit!

 

• Keep important paperwork in place: Health, immunization, and veterinarian records should be kept in a folder along with your families important papers. In the event of an emergency, fire, etc… your pet’s information should be easily accessible.  Organization doesn’t only mean of your décor, it also includes household items that will be at arm’s reach when the time arises.  If you don’t have all your most current information, ask you veterinarian for copies, to keep your files up-to-date at all times.

If your pets and their supplies have taken over your home it is time to get it organized! If you have limited space inside your home, consider using a corner in your garage for storage and organization bins. Don’t forget valuable vertical space on the walls. Hang a peg board in your garage or coat closet to house leashes, brushes, and extra supplies. This will keep your floor clean and your supplies close. You can make your home comfortable for the people and your pets at the same time!

Say “I Do” to the Environment

Wedding planning and trying to protect the environment at the same time!? It is possible! And having an environmentally friendly wedding doesn’t have to mean giving up what you want. In a lot of cases, being environmentally friendly can even lessen the stresses of planning and make the special day more enjoyable. Here are a few ideas I have come across to help make your wedding green!

Go organic. From flowers to food there are lots of ways to go organic. Many caterers offer organic and local produce options. You will be helping the environment by supporting products that use less pesticides, and likely have tastier food!

 

 

 

Something borrowed. Consider borrowing items from friends or family. This will save resources and add a customized feel to the wedding.

 

 

Go local. Consider a wedding location near where the majority of your guests are from. This will save on gas and jet fuel as your guests have less distance to travel. If a local venue isn’t possible, consider reducing the impact on the environment by offsetting the emissions that contribute to climate change. Several Earth Share members offer special programs that you and your guests can use to calculate your carbon output and take steps to offset them.

Ring true. Ask for rings with gold, silver, diamonds or other materials that were mined sustainably. Many mining practices are detrimental to the environment and local communities. Consider using materials from a ring in your family or looking at antiques.

Digital photos. Most photographers can do digital photos of the event. You can then preview the photos and just order prints of the pictures you want-reducing the toxics and waste involved with printing pictures.

One location. Consider having your ceremony and reception in the same location. This will simplify the day and save on gas as guests go from one site to another.

Gift of giving. Picking a china pattern not your style? More couples are asking for donations to charities instead of a gift. Consider adding Earth Share or another environmental charity to your registry.

Organizing Your Car

Many Americans spend more time in their cars than in most rooms of their homes, yet they neglect their wheels when it comes to regular “housekeeping.” When it gets really messy, organizing your car can seem as daunting as keeping a closet in order.

Step one: Sort and clean up

Take everything out of the car, including car seats, music and miscellaneous items stored in the glovebox and door pockets. Don’t forget the trunk and cargo area! Chances are you’ll find all kinds of trash to toss. Organize the rest of the items into three piles: stuff you use all the time, things you use occasionally and items you might need in an emergency. Whatever doesn’t fall into these categories should be stored in your home or garage.

Step two: Analyze

Ask yourself, “How do I use my car?” Are you a salesperson who travels with a trunk load of samples, a parent with two toddlers in car seats or a realtor squiring prospective clients from property to property? Do you make a lot of short trips or are long journeys the norm? What are you always struggling to find? (Pen and paper? Change for the toll? Tissues? Your cell phone?) The answers to these questions should determine your priorities.

Step three: Prioritize

Depending upon your needs, go through your three piles and prioritize the most important items in each group. What do you need to keep close at hand and what can be relegated to the second row or back of the car? Pay attention to duplicates. For example, it’s a good idea to keep drinking water in the car, but not a bunch of half-empty bottles. When you bring three new CDs into the car, take three that you’re tired of back to your house. And just like seasonal clothes in a closet, many items such as ice scrapers and tire chains can be packed away in summer.

Step four: Contain your needs

Loose objects in the car lead to disorganization and mess. In the event of a sudden stop or a crash, they can also damage your car or, worse, injure your occupants. Automotive accessory shops offer a variety of cargo containers and organizers for every part of the car, from leakproof litter bags, CD storage and trunk organizers to drink coolers, folding hangers and kids’ entertainment centers. For the businessperson, the Lewis N Clark “Business Center” holds folders and has a writing surface and detachable portfolio. Talus makes a great line of car organizers, including the CarGanizer and the Kids Car Travel Organizer, which can make a world of difference. Sites for such storage products include AJ Prindle, The Busy Woman, Family on Board, The Container Store and Amazon.com.

Step five: Store

Store items you use regularly in places where you can reach them. Can’t find a place to store that big box of facial tissue? Try a “tissue cup,” a paper cup that fits into a cupholder and dispenses tissues one at a time. Of course, keep insurance information, maps, directions and other documents together in the glovebox. And be creative about storing lesser-used and seasonal items — there are often nooks and crannies around the spare tire or in the rear walls of the car that can hold a small first-aid kit, roadside flares or jumper cables. Your owner’s manual (now that you can find it) can be helpful in pointing out hooks and cubbies that might have been overlooked.

Finally, don’t put anything on the floor — even trash — unless it’s designed to sit there. Once you start messing up the floor, you’ll find it too easy to keep adding to it, and soon your car will be cluttered again!

Cool Ways to Organize

The New Year naturally seems like a good time to start out on the right foot by putting your home in order.   Today we’ll take a look at some creative and stylish ways to store and organize things throughout your house.

Creative Storage & Organization

Storage  and organization doesn’t have to be boring and it doesn’t have to be expensive.  There are lots of functional yet creative and inexpensive ways to store things in your home while creating visual interest and easy accessibility.

Kitchen

Photo Amazon.com

 Test tubes store a lot of different spices in a very small footprint.  The glass tubes let you know when it’s time to buy more and smaller quantities help ensure the spices on-hand are fresh.

Photo HGTV.com

Three colorful and repeating cans add a decorative touch to a kitchen while getting utensils out of the cluttered drawer and within easy reach for the cook.  Pick cans with labels that match your favorite cooking style ( big cans of tomatoes if you cook Italian often) as well as your kitchen color scheme (label art spans the color wheel!).

Bedroom

Photo MarthaStewart.com

 A wooden folding ladder unexpectedly serves as a nightstand in a guest room.

Photo Lowes.com

 Modular closet storage units are transformed to foot of the bed storage with the addition of legs and leaf graphics. 

Photo GoodHouseKeeping.com

Old hardsided suitcases gain new life as foot of the bed storage pieces – use them for bed linens or out of season clothing.  Use longer legs and turn them into nightstands or an end table for a bedroom chair. 

Photo MarthaStewart.com

Line closet walls with painted peg board and gain tons of extra storage space. Notice the hanging hand bags, belts, ties, sports racket, lint roller, mirror and even a wire basket for perfumes?  That’s a lot of storage in a usually wasted space.

Photo MarthaStewart.com

Odds and ends teacups and saucers organize jewelry.  Did you notice the earrings hanging on the lip of the cup?  You could use this idea for cosmetics in the bathroom or office desk items (paperclips, rubber bands, stamps, push pins) too.

Office

Photo BHG.com

Old silver forks keep business cards, tickets and reminders front and center in the office.  Use them in the kitchen to hold a recipe card while you’re cooking or in the pantry to hold a shopping list or coupons.

Craft Room

Photo MarthaStewart.com

All it takes is the back of the door to create a wrapping center.  Use a dry erase board to keep track of monthly birthdays, anniversaries and showers.  Removable dowels supported by curtain rod brackets keep rolls of wrapping paper and spools of ribbon at hand while hooks keep scissors, and tape within reach. 

Photo Lowes.com

 If you’re a quilter, cover a board with flannel and then frame it with some painted trim for a pin-less way to organize your completed squares or swatch inspirations.

What Are You Using?

 Creative storage means you don’t always have to use an item for it’s original purpose.  What tricks have you come up with for repurposing something so it helps keep you organized and stores things you need?

~ How To Keep Your Shared Bathroom Organized ~

If several household members are sharing a bathroom, follow these tips to help organize it.

1. Clean out every drawer and shelf in the bathroom. Get rid of anything that isn’t being used.

2. Move your medicines to the kitchen. The heat and steam in the bath can ruin them.

3. Give each household member a different colored basket to fill with toiletries. No sharing. Make sure everyone has their own toothpaste, eye drops, cosmetics and grooming supplies. Each person will keep the basket in his or her bedroom.

4. Evaluate your storage. You will need places for: towels, nail care, extra paper, feminine hygiene products, hair care and back-up supplies of soap and shampoo. Nothing else belongs in the bathroom.

5. Use a shower/bath caddy for shampoo and soap. They are inexpensive and are available in many different styles.

6. Set up a drip-dry container for bath toys if you have small children. Cut slits in an empty wipes box for an inexpensive solution.

7. Make space for a small, lidless hamper or laundry basket. Otherwise, have a system for depositing used towels in the laundry room.

8. Use hooks instead of towel racks for kids. They’ll be more likely to use them. Have as many hooks and/or towel racks as you have persons using the bathroom.

9. Make a checklist of all products in your bathroom as well as those used by each individual. Review weekly before shopping.

10. Explore the variety of storage options you can use in the bath. Small countertop drawers can organize cotton balls and Q-Tips. Cutlery trays in drawers, plastic shelves under the sink, caddies which attach to doors, and rolling carts can all contain the clutter that so often accumulates in this much-used room.

Home Office

If you’re lucky enough to have a whole room to set aside for a home office, it still requires some thought to most effectively organize and store all the stuff you’ll need.  And the bonus?  Because it’s an at-home office, you can decorate.  It shouldn’t be a sterile, cubicle space like in an office building, but a warm, personalized space where you enjoy spending time.  Even if it’s on work.

Photo from Room Remix.com

This office is making good use of the smallest bedroom or extra room in the house – it looks like it might only be 8′ wide or so.  The owner wasn’t afraid to use a dark wall color in the small room – it makes the room cozy but the good use of storage shelves keeps the space from being cluttered which would surely make it feel too tiny.  The generous desk placed under the window creates an appealing place to sit and work.  I can tell you from experience it’s much nicer to have a window view, any view, than stare at a blank wall.  If you can manage it, place your desk near a window.

Photo from Freshome.com

 Another small room adapted for an office.  Those extensive shelves certainly organize what looks like an extensive reference library.  Desk under a window, check.  Cool patterned rug for style, check.

My current office.

The extra room in our new house that we’re using for an office space is luxuriously large and bright – by far the nicest space we’ve ever had.  And there’s my computer, facing out those windows – even though I’m usually looking at the screen, not outdoors, it’s still there on the edges of my vision, making me happy.

Photo from PotteryBarn.com

Who wouldn’t love staying home to work in this light filled corner office?  Although I love the idea of the huge abacus, I think I’d hang it on a wall somewhere and free up the desk space.  But that’s just me.  A layout like this would be easy to customize and cost effective to build using Craigs List file cabinets topped with painted board or maybe remnant laminate countertops.  Mix up the under desk storage to suit your needs – open, drawers or bins, whatever works for you.

Photo from Freshome.com

Another arrangement that might maximize your space better is to utilize 2 desks facing each other, away from the walls.  We’ve preached the value of this technique in other rooms – pull your furniture away from the walls to increase flow and usually make the room seem larger.  You can see the file storage to the left of the desks.  If the room ended behind the chair and there was no room for the file cabinet there, then perhaps at the end of the desks would work to let you have this arrangement, even in a quite small room. 

Photo from my archives

Many newer homes have these little loft areas tucked at the top of the stairs or off the kitchen.  You can see the shelving is used to store equipment and the shelves over the desk are used decoratively.  If you need more storage, add pretty bins or baskets.

Photo from Apartment Therapy.com

This narrow space looks to be only 8-9′ wide with 2 desk spaces along one side and storage for equipment and supplies behind the desks.  While not a particularly pretty arrangement, it’s very efficient and filled with storage.  The bright colors (orange on the ceiling, whew!) make it very energizing. 

Photo from my ancient archives.

Many of us must make our rooms serve multiple functions.  Here’s a good blending of an office space in a room that might get only occasional guest use.  The color is bright and energizing, encouraging you to stay and finish your work!

Office designed by Erin Gates

Another version of a green office with style flair.  The zebra rug adds a great punch of pattern doesn’t it?  The cubes for storage are SO efficient – perfect for notebooks or bins – customize however works for you.  I see the edge of a sofa which makes me think it might also double as a guest room. 

Photo from My Home Ideas.com

 This lucky homeowner has a fabulous home office/crafting space.  Look at all those storage cabinets, hiding the mess that is a home office.  And I just love that giant bulletin board – perfect for displaying kids’ art, reminders, letters or cards you want to save, etc.