How Decluttering Can Pay Off, Literally!

Lately, I have been hit by the decluttering bug. And by hit, I mean HIT hard. I am pretty good about decluttering, honestly, but about once or twice a year I just start to go a little nuts around the house. Just ask my husband! What I do is I imagine that we are going to be moving across the country! I give myself a deadline - say 2 months - and I start going room by room through every closet, cupboard and shelf! I think about whether I've used the item in the last six months, or even a year. Why am I keeping it? 

The Secret to Naturally Clean Laundry

Let me tell you, I am sort of finicky about what I use around my house - it's got to be natural, safe, and scent-free. I've got a couple of important people who live in this house that absolutely can't have scented anything! 

11 Ways to Organize with Baskets

I love baskets! They are inexpensive and come in all kinds of sizes for organizing. I've come up with 11 great ways to organize with baskets, but honestly, there are a lot more ways! Here are my favorites...

Don't forget to enter to win a FOOD Saver. Go HERE!

Getting Ready for School - part 2 (School supplies and clothes)

Checking your lists....check them twice!

Well, school supplies - uggh!  I'm sure that this is an area you love or hate about school!  

Organizing your Linen Closet {part 4} - Making it pretty!

OK, so let's have a look at some really pretty linen closets for inspiration!

Weekend inspiration in the garden

Well, here is some more from my parents' house.  My mom's garden is beautiful!  I grew up in San Jose, CA but my parents moved down to Santa Maria in 2000 and have created an equally beautiful garden there!  I grew up with a good sized yard - for California - where my mom had a beautiful rose garden, a shed covered in a climbing rose, a gazebo that my dad built just before my sister had her wedding reception, and a gorgeous wood deck off the back patio with a roof covered in wisteria!  So, when they moved to Santa Maria, they basically had to start all over again.  Well, they've done it!  Here are some pictures to prove it!

Here is the view out their back window onto their u-shaped patio - in Santa Maria they get winds every afternoon, cold winds.  So the u-shaped patio helps to buffer that cold each day.