It doesn't matter how much you scrub your floors; if the baseboards are grungy, the room will never look clean. Here's how to tidy up these dirt magnets without breaking your back.
I confess: I veryrarely clean the baseboards in my home. The job is just too big and I can't imagine when I'd carve out a whole afternoon to get down on my hands and knees to scrub these seemingly endless strips of wood, which seem to attract dirt and dust like a magnet.
But it's those finishing touches that give a room that polished look. The truth is, baseboard cleaning doesn't have to be so daunting. Frequent touch-ups and preventive maintenance are key to avoiding a big job down the road.Here are a few tips for taking the toil out of cleaning your baseboards.
- Do them last
Wait until the rest of your floor cleaning (sweeping, mopping) is done, then tackle the baseboards. They're likely to get even dirtier as you kick up debris from the floors, and doing the baseboards last will save you from having to do them twice.
- Vacuum them
Vacuum the baseboards using your brush attachment. The baseboards should be totally free of hair, dust and any loose dirt before you wash them. Pay particular attention to the floor around the baseboards, which is where most of the floor's dirt tends to accumulate.
- Spray them
Working room by room, spray the baseboards with an all-purpose cleaner.I use this homemade cleaner, and it works wonders. Be careful not to soak your baseboards or get too much water on the wall behind them, as this could cause damage to your drywall.Let the solution sit for about 10 minutes.
- Rinse
Using a damp sponge mop with clean water, wash the baseboards. The mop is convenient from a logistical standpoint, especially if you have a bad back; you don't have to get down and dirty, so to speak. But really tough marks may still require you to get on the floor and scrub. If the stains are stubborn, just scrub harder, but refrain from using anything abrasive, like a scouring pad, on your baseboards.
- Protect them
Once your baseboards are clean and dry, take a new dryer sheet and wipe it over the wood. The anti-static cling property of the dryer sheet will cut the amount of dust that sticks to baseboards. In fact, each time you sweep and vacuum, go over the baseboards quickly with a dryer sheet. If you have shedding pets, you'll want to do this regularly. This preventative maintenance will go a long way. http://www.diylife.com/2010/06/08/home-ec-how-to-clean-baseboards/
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Take 2 pretty little nurseries...
Every once in a while I just need a shot of fairy floss to rebalance the equilibrium in my world of bugs and mud. These two spaces scratch that itch perfectly... Loving the stars and the fairy lights, the fluffy white rug, drawers and pastel pink trike. Haven't they both just hit the perfect shade? Love them.
Via http://nooshkids.blogspot.com/search/label/nurseries
Lovely little Euro designs...
Loving this one. It's a stunning little space I found over at DecoPeques. How much do you wish we had all this beautiful European designed kids furniture here in Australia? Maybe Noosh needs to get to work designing huh?
http://nooshkids.blogspot.com/search/label/nurseries7 stylish toy storage ideas
Gorgeous rooms ahead! And all cleverly organised with beautiful storage ideas. Look out for the stunning wall art on the last shot too.
http://nooshkids.blogspot.com/2011/11/7-stylish-toy-storage-ideas.htmlWednesday, April 4, 2012
The Nursery Reveal
{View all nursery related posts here}
After I was up at least five times Friday night to use the bathroom, Chris and I were both wide awake at 5 a.m. on Saturday morning. I sent him out in the dark 9-degree weather to get bacon and ice cream while I made waffles. It was the first time I really felt like a stereotypical pregnant woman and it only took 9 months to get there!
Our nursery also took about 9 months to finish, but seeing how we started with down-to-the-studs walls, we’ll give ourselves a break. And now our big nursery reveal is here! Sit down and get comfortable, because this could take a while…
Here is the view from the door:
And then the view of the opposite side of the room.
Do you love it? I do.
It is all the yellow and gray goodness that I had hoped for when I set out to design our nursery scheme back in August. It is colorful and playful with lots to look at, yet also soothing and comfortable. Chris and I have spent several hours over the past few weeks just sitting in the room and relaxing. Let’s be honest, right now the room is mostly for us me anyway. Our little guy won’t care much about design for a few years, if ever, so for now it is a space where we can feel cozy hanging out, reading, playing and feeding.
Shall we get into some of the details?
Our crib is centered on the back wall and framed by an on-clearance mirror that we originally scored at Lowe’s and then stole from the guest room (sorry, guests). Over on the right is a slim green floor lamp that I also found at Lowe’s.
Our larger-than-life mobile is made of some fun poms from PomLove on Etsy and some of the fantastic star lanterns that my sister Holly made for our wedding.
And looking down low, our crib is skirted with my DIY crib skirt made with some fun yellow print fabric. (Update: I eventually made coordinating crib bumpers and a quilt.)
Over to the right we have our little reading nook. Truth be told, the room is not exactly finished yet because we have a sweet rocking chair that Chris’ grandmother used and we haven’t quite finished touching it up yet. But that gives me an excuse to do more nursery posts later, right?
But we do have our DIY book slings in place featuring some green dot fabric by Amy Butler.
And above that we have some DIY art made by me and my crafty friend Shyla.
Continuing on around the room we have our bright yellow changing table and dresser that truly makes the room for me. I could not be more happy with how this beat-up Craigslist find turned into the perfect sun-shiny yellow piece for our room. And, the numbered knobs (originally red and from Pottery Barn Kids) get rave reviews from all the people who have seen the room in person.
Above the changing table we have two floating shelves that I found on deal at Lowe’s and a small hanging rack. They provide the perfect place for fun accessories and very necessary blankets, burp cloths and diapers. At least we hear those things are necessary. We know absolutely nothing at this point!
And back to the sitting area we go….
If you look closely on the closet doors, you can see that we used knob numbers 7 and 8 left over from the dresser. They got a coat of yellow paint and work perfectly as door pulls.
Overhead you’ll see the oversized linen drum fixture (from CB2) that I just love, love, love. It’s on a dimmer, too, so we can have nap-time mood lighting.
The sitting area is grounded by a simple area rug that I found on Overstock and the whole wall is framed by our fun and cute DIY cornices made with bright yellow elephant fabric. They add such a pop of color near the ceiling and I just love them to pieces. What can I say, I am partial to my own work.
And then there is the chair. The chair as in Frankie’s old chair (for those of you who were worried, our pup Frankie has adjusted well to sharing his chair and he still enjoys hanging out in it when he remembers where it is).
This chair used to be dingy and green until I slipcovered it. I didn’t do a whole post on the chair covering process, mostly because I can’t really tell you how I did it. It took a lot of patience and brain power and I think I need to take on a few more slipcovering projects before I do a tutorial. If you look closely you can even see that I did piping on the cushion covers. Do I get bonus points?
In the end, I was glad that we used this chair instead of buying a new one. It is super comfortable and it’s making use of a perfectly good piece of furniture that didn’t fit well anywhere else in our house.
I also whipped up a coordinating pillow cover with leftover cornice fabric. Definitely bonus points for that, right?
The chair is made even more comfortable with this quick DIY ottoman that I made with leftover fabric. Love this little guy.
I found the perfect side table at Overstock for about $30. I love that it has a little drawer for stashing things away (you know, like nipple cream, which are two words that once upon a time I would never have imagined using in the same sentence, never mind next to each other. So weird.).
Anyway, the table is perfect for a small stash of books, my little Goodwill white ceramic lamp topped with a green shade from Target, and a coaster for my feeding time sustenance.
And above the table we have my DIY embroidery hoop art featuring various fabrics and a yellow clock I found at Target. I still need a battery for the clock otherwise it will perpetually be 10:12 in the nursery.
And I can’t round out this post without mentioning two of my favorite things in the room that have a ton of sentimental value. First is this adorable growth chart that my sister made for us. I know you want one of your own, but sorry, it was custom made for us!
And second is the Ollie the Elephant doll. My mom made this doll for me when I was a little girl and it was my original jumping off point for the whole nursery. Of course, the doll was originally named Ellie and wore a cute pink dress and apron, but my mom kindly whipped up a new little boy outfit and we did a quick name change!
And now we are all just waiting, especially Frankie who can’t quite understand what this room is for. I guess he will find out soon enough!
Before I get to the obligatory source list, I have to say that none of the projects I took on for this room were completely original. Everything was either inspired by or copied from other rooms that I have seen and loved, most notably Graham’s Fabric Fabulous Nursery (oh, hello gray wall color, yellow cornices, embroidery hoop art and green accents!). So please, if you see something you like here in this little nursery of ours, copy away!
Source list:
Best of all, I feel really good about how that money will work for us. I purposely designed the room to be less infant feeling so that the design can last for years, and the big pieces can always be re-painted or slip covered to work elsewhere in the house. The crib is designed to eventually work as a toddler bed, so our we’ll easily get our investment out of that piece. Plus, we have a room that we just can’t wait to give to our little boy, and that is priceless (sniff, sniff). http://www.domesticadventure.com/2010/12/the-nursery-reveal/
After I was up at least five times Friday night to use the bathroom, Chris and I were both wide awake at 5 a.m. on Saturday morning. I sent him out in the dark 9-degree weather to get bacon and ice cream while I made waffles. It was the first time I really felt like a stereotypical pregnant woman and it only took 9 months to get there!
Our nursery also took about 9 months to finish, but seeing how we started with down-to-the-studs walls, we’ll give ourselves a break. And now our big nursery reveal is here! Sit down and get comfortable, because this could take a while…
Here is the view from the door:
And then the view of the opposite side of the room.
Do you love it? I do.
It is all the yellow and gray goodness that I had hoped for when I set out to design our nursery scheme back in August. It is colorful and playful with lots to look at, yet also soothing and comfortable. Chris and I have spent several hours over the past few weeks just sitting in the room and relaxing. Let’s be honest, right now the room is mostly for us me anyway. Our little guy won’t care much about design for a few years, if ever, so for now it is a space where we can feel cozy hanging out, reading, playing and feeding.
Shall we get into some of the details?
Our crib is centered on the back wall and framed by an on-clearance mirror that we originally scored at Lowe’s and then stole from the guest room (sorry, guests). Over on the right is a slim green floor lamp that I also found at Lowe’s.
Our larger-than-life mobile is made of some fun poms from PomLove on Etsy and some of the fantastic star lanterns that my sister Holly made for our wedding.
And looking down low, our crib is skirted with my DIY crib skirt made with some fun yellow print fabric. (Update: I eventually made coordinating crib bumpers and a quilt.)
Over to the right we have our little reading nook. Truth be told, the room is not exactly finished yet because we have a sweet rocking chair that Chris’ grandmother used and we haven’t quite finished touching it up yet. But that gives me an excuse to do more nursery posts later, right?
But we do have our DIY book slings in place featuring some green dot fabric by Amy Butler.
And above that we have some DIY art made by me and my crafty friend Shyla.
Continuing on around the room we have our bright yellow changing table and dresser that truly makes the room for me. I could not be more happy with how this beat-up Craigslist find turned into the perfect sun-shiny yellow piece for our room. And, the numbered knobs (originally red and from Pottery Barn Kids) get rave reviews from all the people who have seen the room in person.
Above the changing table we have two floating shelves that I found on deal at Lowe’s and a small hanging rack. They provide the perfect place for fun accessories and very necessary blankets, burp cloths and diapers. At least we hear those things are necessary. We know absolutely nothing at this point!
And back to the sitting area we go….
If you look closely on the closet doors, you can see that we used knob numbers 7 and 8 left over from the dresser. They got a coat of yellow paint and work perfectly as door pulls.
Overhead you’ll see the oversized linen drum fixture (from CB2) that I just love, love, love. It’s on a dimmer, too, so we can have nap-time mood lighting.
The sitting area is grounded by a simple area rug that I found on Overstock and the whole wall is framed by our fun and cute DIY cornices made with bright yellow elephant fabric. They add such a pop of color near the ceiling and I just love them to pieces. What can I say, I am partial to my own work.
And then there is the chair. The chair as in Frankie’s old chair (for those of you who were worried, our pup Frankie has adjusted well to sharing his chair and he still enjoys hanging out in it when he remembers where it is).
This chair used to be dingy and green until I slipcovered it. I didn’t do a whole post on the chair covering process, mostly because I can’t really tell you how I did it. It took a lot of patience and brain power and I think I need to take on a few more slipcovering projects before I do a tutorial. If you look closely you can even see that I did piping on the cushion covers. Do I get bonus points?
In the end, I was glad that we used this chair instead of buying a new one. It is super comfortable and it’s making use of a perfectly good piece of furniture that didn’t fit well anywhere else in our house.
I also whipped up a coordinating pillow cover with leftover cornice fabric. Definitely bonus points for that, right?
The chair is made even more comfortable with this quick DIY ottoman that I made with leftover fabric. Love this little guy.
I found the perfect side table at Overstock for about $30. I love that it has a little drawer for stashing things away (you know, like nipple cream, which are two words that once upon a time I would never have imagined using in the same sentence, never mind next to each other. So weird.).
Anyway, the table is perfect for a small stash of books, my little Goodwill white ceramic lamp topped with a green shade from Target, and a coaster for my feeding time sustenance.
And above the table we have my DIY embroidery hoop art featuring various fabrics and a yellow clock I found at Target. I still need a battery for the clock otherwise it will perpetually be 10:12 in the nursery.
And I can’t round out this post without mentioning two of my favorite things in the room that have a ton of sentimental value. First is this adorable growth chart that my sister made for us. I know you want one of your own, but sorry, it was custom made for us!
And second is the Ollie the Elephant doll. My mom made this doll for me when I was a little girl and it was my original jumping off point for the whole nursery. Of course, the doll was originally named Ellie and wore a cute pink dress and apron, but my mom kindly whipped up a new little boy outfit and we did a quick name change!
And now we are all just waiting, especially Frankie who can’t quite understand what this room is for. I guess he will find out soon enough!
Before I get to the obligatory source list, I have to say that none of the projects I took on for this room were completely original. Everything was either inspired by or copied from other rooms that I have seen and loved, most notably Graham’s Fabric Fabulous Nursery (oh, hello gray wall color, yellow cornices, embroidery hoop art and green accents!). So please, if you see something you like here in this little nursery of ours, copy away!
Source list:
- Paint: Olympic paint matched to Benjamin Moore’s Gray Horse – $25
- Light fixture: Eden Pendant Lamp from CB2 (converted to hardwired by our electrician) – $50
- Crib: DaVinci Emily 4-in-1 Convertible Crib – $179 (on sale, with coupon code and free shipping)
- Poms: PomLove on Etsy – $15
- Star lanterns: Handmade by my sister – free for me!
- Round mirror: Lowe’s – already had on hand
- DIY Crib Skirt: Fabric is Premier Prints Chipper Slub Texture Corn Yellow – $15
- Green floor lamp: Lowe’s – $19.99
- “I love you” wall art: DIY in Photoshop; frame already owned, artwork printed through Snapfish – $10
- Elephant wall art: Gift!
- Book slings: supplies from Lowe’s; fabric is Amy Butler’s Lotus Full Moon Polka Dot Lime – $35 for whole project
- Dresser: Craigslist – $50
- Dresser paint: Dandelion wishes from Valspar – $10
- Dresser number pulls: Pottery Barn Kids – $20
- Floating shelves: Lowe’s – $24 (for two)
- Green piggy bank: Crate and Barrel Outlet – $10
- Yellow and white check baskets: Crate and Barrel Outlet – $10 for two
- DIY Cornices: Fabric is Premier Prints Ele Slub Texture White/Yellow; other supplies from Lowe’s – $32 for total project
- Roman Shades: JCPenny – $45 for two
- Area rug: Astronomy Comet Rug from Overstock – $107
- Chair fabric: Diversitex Poly/Cotton Twill Black – $60
- Side table: Lachlan Glossy White End Table from Overstock – $34
- Table lamp: Base from Goodwill and shade from Target – $9 total
- Basket under side table – HomeGoods – $10
- Embroidery hoop wall art – Fabric is leftover scraps: (top) Amy Butler Lotus Full Moon Polka Dot Lime; (top left) Amy Butler Midwest Modern II Park Fountain Mustard; (center) Michael Miller Farmers Market Apple Dot Spring; (center left) Amy Butler Midwest Modern Martini Mustard; (bottom) Michael Miller (print seems to gone from Fabric.com–sorry!) – $5 for embroidery hoops
- Yellow clock: Target – $5
- DIY Ottoman: $10
- Coaster: Anthropologie – already had on hand
- Elephant growth chart – handmade by my sister
Best of all, I feel really good about how that money will work for us. I purposely designed the room to be less infant feeling so that the design can last for years, and the big pieces can always be re-painted or slip covered to work elsewhere in the house. The crib is designed to eventually work as a toddler bed, so our we’ll easily get our investment out of that piece. Plus, we have a room that we just can’t wait to give to our little boy, and that is priceless (sniff, sniff). http://www.domesticadventure.com/2010/12/the-nursery-reveal/
Baby Boy Nursery Tour
I absolutely love that the little outfits my mom and I make for George can be displayed like little pieces of artwork on the clothing rack next to the bookshelf.
My biggest splurge in the space was this upholstered rocker. I love this chair! Instead of buying the matching ottoman, my mom made me a floor cushion using a fabulous tutorial by Susan at Living with Punks (linked in the resources below).
I have had so many of you ask about these little brass owls! These belonged to my husband's grandmother, and I was so happy to be able to include them here.
George has no blanket cozier than this faux chenille blanket made especially for him by Mammo Reita.
This gorgeous sketch was done by a dear friend of my parents'. It is entitled "The Gift." Isn't it wonderful?
The antique dresser I refinished for the space doubles as a changing table. George loves to stare up at the mobile hanging above it!
I made this little name banner and the garland on the shelf below the framed chalkboard using my rosette dies from Lifestyle Crafts.
The gallery wall next to the dresser is a work in progress. I plan to add the cross-stitch birth announcement sampler my mom is making for him, as well as new photos, in the future.
I just love the lantern and tissue paper pom pom mobile and the zebra rug! (See below for resources.)
One final look of the entire space on our way out...
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