Middle Class Modern

The Moderns Are Moving!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 05:09:00 +0000

Upfront Blogger truthiness-these entries are not real time.

...One day. Since I started my "new" job, almost three years ago now (!!!), I've known that the commute would eventually do me in. It's 30 miles each way. Considering Atlanta traffic, that means somedays I get to work in 45 minutes. Usually it takes me over an hour and sometimes over two. And then the same at night.

Atlanta traffic. Courtesy Business Insider.

Sigh. And did I mention I now go to grad school downtown two nights a week? Something had to give, and as much as we love where we live-having lakes, restaurants, bars, and an adorable downtown all steps from your front door is seriously amazing-in the end we knew we'd have to move. The commute is killing my soul and sapping my already limited free time.

We knew we'd have certain difficulties finding a great place to live. I work in an incredibly expensive part of Atlanta, which is also not a part of town that's super easily accessible. We agree that living as close as possible, with multiple good routes in because you never know when trafficmegadon might break out, would improve everyone's quality of life.

We seriously considered renting an apartment, and we searched for one for a good long time. Finding something in our price range close to my work that accepted all three of our pets (two is the limit most apartments would accept)? It was a unicorn.

Plus, we knew the time was right.

Courtesy Anne Taintor

That's right, we are buying a house!

In an effort to be completely transparent, we actually started looking in April. It was during this time we found out that J's identity had been stolen and we had to put the brakes on searching. We've since been able to work things out and are back in the game.

What Do We Want?

The first thing we needed to decide was what sort of house we wanted. J really pushed at first for a townhouse or condo, for a couple of reasons. There are plenty of great townhouse communities super close to my work. He also liked the idea of minimal outdoor maintenance.

However, there were a few things that made us decide against this route. The biggest is, again, the pet thing. Most communities we were interested in limited owners to two pets per unit. Still have three furry family members. The other consideration is resale value. And finally, for various reasons we are obtaining an FHA mortgage and many complexes weren't FHA approved.

Another important consideration is access. Over the last few years I've sprained my ankle/hurt my knee multiple times. We actually had rented a townhouse during the J's stolen identity debacle but had to back out because I badly injured my ankle and there was no way I could get up into the townhouse and, once in, I couldn't get up to a bathroom with a tub/shower. And, honestly. J's health is still iffy. Easy access in and out of a house and easy access to a bathroom is really important.

So that pushed us over to single family homes. And, honestly, with our price range and with where we want to live, that means an older home. There are modest new builds in metro-Atlanta, but they are way out on the edges. New houses closer in tend to be very large.

I mean, not that I mind old houses! However, we HAVE to have more than one bathroom. J's illnesses make sharing a bathroom tricky. We've also had a reeaaaaalllyyy small house (800 sq feet) for almost five years ago. I don't want a large house-neither of us do- but a little bit more space, and especially a little bit more storage would be amazing.

I'll be back soon with details about house searching. Until then, happy holidays!

Procrastination Leads to Tress-full Consequences

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 02:00:00 +0000

How is the new year shaking out for all of you?

For whatever reason, I have some sort of mental block when it comes to getting a haircut in a somewhat timely manner, which often leads to badly grown out haircuts. There's always something "better" to do with the time or the money, you know? I also have insanely thick hair, so getting a good haircut can be something of a gamble and I haven't had a really good hairstylist in a few years.

When Gone Girl came out last fall, I fell in love with Rosamund Pike's adorable bob. The secret to avoiding that weird mushroom thing that happens with thick hair is apparently an undercut. Genius. I bought a Groupon and took myself off to a new hairdresser who did an AMAZING job on my hair. I loved it. J loved it.

However, it's a haircut that requires some upkeep...and I really should have gone in for a trim before Christmas. I didn't. And this week it was driving me crazy, so I called for an appointment but the awesome hairstylist wasn't available. I booked in with someone else.

To quote Vivian from Pretty Woman...

Instead of a trim of my cute bob...

I ended up with this.

Yeah, Susan, I'm dreaming of a day when my hair didn't suck so bad.

Being in the chair was like watching an accident in slow motion. My hair completely stumped the poor woman, who was really trying to give me what I wanted. She chopped, she thinned, she tried new things...it was helmet hair, it was newscaster hair, it was everything but what I wanted my hair to be. Honestly, I should have stopped her way before we got to the tragic bangs. There's nothing to do at this point but let it grow. In a month or so I'll let Awesome Stylist back at it.

Lesson learned? Don't put off getting trims, and it's worth waiting for someone who knows how to cut your hair.

The GOOD thing about today? As I left the salon-not in tears but definitely shaken-I spotted a little antique shop along the way, and decided to walk through to calm my shattered nerves.

That's when I spotted this.

That's right, a bright red enameled Le Creuset dutch-or french-oven. I looked at the tag. It said "Red Pot for Food Cooking" and had a price of ten dollars. I swear, I don't think anyone ever cooked in it. It's pristine, and I've wanted a good dutch oven forever. I'm so excited. And as a genius friend pointed out, long after this horrid haircut is but a memory I'll still have and love my beautiful new dutch oven.

It also plays nicely into a goal I have been doing really well with-cooking and eating at home. We've only had one emergency takeout all month, and that was on a night when I was hours late leaving work. I'll take it.

The Best Money I've Ever Spent

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 16:42:00 +0000

Money is so freaking difficult to talk about in a real, meaningful way. It feels impolite and boastful and shameful and wrong somehow. Maybe it's just me? God knows J's been known to share arcane details of our financial lives with perfect strangers {side note-certain buttons on my laptop like the exclamation point aren't working. Ugh. I neeeeeed my exclamation points.}

Heading into last year our financial situation was looking up. We had good health insurance, which with J's condition was an absolute godsend. I had an awesome, full-time job. This blog was still bringing in a smidge of money, and I still freelanced from time to time.

We do have debt. Luckily, not consumer {i.e. credit card} debt. My student loans. We started making inroads there, and I will take openly in painful detail about that later. We just weren't getting as ahead as I wanted us to be.

I'd been using Mint for awhile, so I knew where we went wrong with our spending, but it felt like shutting the barn door after your favorite horse has bolted. I needed to get out in front of the issues instead of tracking them.

So one day I was browsing a fashion blog {maybe Corporette?} and a commenter mentioned You Need A Budget. I went to the website, downloaded it, looked at it, and shut my computer in horror.

With Mint you hook up your bank accounts and it tells you how much money you have, where you are spending it, what you are spending it on. It requires no effort on your part. You just receive the data.

YNAB could NOT be more different. When I opened it, instead of a web app that would do the work for me I see what looks like an excel spreadsheet on steroids. I was expected to set up endless categories, manually input transactions...everything. Why, in the twenty-first century, would I want to do this?

I read some YNAB success stories and decided I should at least try it. I spent a rainy summer Saturday taking their online classes-which are awesome, by the way-and it started to make sense. I needed to manually run YNAB because I needed to take back control of our money.

This is how YNAB works. You budget the money you currently have. For example, I was paid on the thirtieth. I'll be paid again on the fifteenth. What do I need the money I currently have to do? Well, rent, our utilities, and my phone are all due before I'm paid again. We'd also like to eat and put gas in the car {although my next check really covers our discretionary spending}. So I open YNAB and assign my paycheck dollars to those categories until I have no more money. That's it.

There are apps for your android, iPhone, iPad, and Kindle. The apps let you record transactions. Did you fill up at the gas station? You enter the amount spent and the category {gas}, and what account you used {checking debit? Visa?}.

The gamechanger about YNAB is that you spend by category instead of bank balance. Out of money in your dining out category? Better start the water for pasta, because you are eating in tonight, sister. That is what's revolutionized our monetary situation. It lets us easily draw the line between "yes, we have the money but no, we don't have the money for that." It also helps plan for irregular expenses, map out your saving strategy, and point out spending black holes {again, for us, eating out}.

I've been spoiled by "free" apps and websites, so I really searched for a free or cheaper alternative. I tried making a spreadsheet. I tried some cheaper alternatives. In the end, I decided sometimes you have to spend money. It really was money well spent.

I'll stop now, but I really encourage anyone who'd like stronger control over their finances to check it out. It seems like it goes on sale pretty regularly; check out the YNAB forums {they are also full of awesome money talk}, someone always posts the sales. A Steam sale {that I posted on Facebook} offered YNAB at seventy-five percent off. I bought it during an AppSumo sale for around half off. However, if you want to buy it and there's not a current sale you can use my affiliate link which saves you six dollars and makes me six dollars.

other than the off-chance someone might use my affiliate code, I haven't been paid, perked, or anything else for this post

-

Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 15:43:00 +0000

How very, very basic of me. Here it is, New Years Day 2015, and I'm about to publish a list of goals for the year. Which-let's be honest-is basically just a trick of wording to deny I'm making New Years resolutions.

Certain people are awesome, ready made adults. I was never one of these people. I swear I was better at adulthood at fifteen than I am now. It's depressing. And it can feel impossible to really fix your broken disaster of a life. But that's exactly what I've spent the last couple of years doing-fixing my broken life. It's never to late to get it together.

Some of these goals are carryovers from last year and some specific things I've been working on steadily over the last few months. Knowing I've been able to make and sustain these changes gives me confidence I'll be able to attack more areas of my life. And it seemed right to start documenting my attempts at being a real, functioning adult {way, way late in the game} because as I was starting the process of getting it together I kept looking for a blog detailing a similar journey. I didn't really find it {although I do love Adulting}. So why not chronicle my experiences?

These are the fifteen in fifteen I'll be working on this year. These aren't in any order of importance, by the way.

Read more. Everyone who knows me in real-life just laughed out loud. I'm a voracious reader. The last year, though, I've really struggled with finishing books. Part of it is a time crunch, part of it is I'm just distracted. So I'm setting a goal of reading twenty-five books this year, which sounds doable {I'm trying not to overwhelm myself}. You can follow along and make fun of my book choices at Goodreads.
Socialize. This is basically my life. I get up, go to work, come home, hang out with J and the furs {which I love}, go to bed, do it again. For many reasons I severely pulled back from the world but it's time to rejoin fully. My own lameness keeps me from lots of fun social things-last night my best friend texted me to come to her party, but I was already passed out at ten o'clock. On New Years Eve. Must work on this. I've joined a book club and the first meeting is in a few weeks {and a book club will also help me work on goal one. Yay for efficiency}.
Money, Money, Money. This is one of the goals I've already started working on. I'll do a big post soon.
Cook. I love cooking. I've written before about struggling to kick the take out habit. It's time to take my own advice and reboot my kitchen habits. Eating at home will also support my money {i.e. have more of it} goal.
Do one new thing with J each month. Maybe it's playing a new board game, checking out a museum, trying a new cuisine, making something together...no rules, other than doing something new together monthly.
Walk. Here's another area of my life where I've gotten lazy. Here's an area with a simple fix available. At least three times a week I'm going to put Emily on her leash and walk around our {wonderfully walkable and scenic} neighborhood. I want to get into better shape without making a big deal about it. This will help.
Drink Water at Work. I can have coffee when I get to work, but I'm giving up keeping a two-liter of Coke under my desk. Water, water, water. I'm not going to say I'm giving up soda all together, but not drinking it at work will help keep it under control.
Keep on keeping on at work. I love my job. I feel lucky to have it. I actually thinking working on my other goals will help me be better at work.
Calendar my life. This one of those areas I'm already working on. I found a system that really works well for me. Now I need to consistently work the system throughout the year.
Blog weekly. This is part of the accountability factor of working on my goals, but also I actually enjoy writing and blogging and have missed it.
Unf?ck our habitat. We've lived here for four years. It's amazing the amount of sheer nonsense you can accumulate in four years. Weirdly, this is one of those areas where working on our money helped our house. I'll explain more later. I've been decluttering, organizing, and scrubbing all week.
Make home home. Again, we've lived here four years. We're going to live here at least another year. Time to really make it work for us, and to invest in things that will work for us no matter where we live. A great kitchen cart. Matching plates. Eventually a new sofa.
My poor car. I love my car, so why do I let it deteriorate into a trash heap? Yes, I have a long commute. That's not a good enough excuse.
Use my degree. Yes, I love my job but I miss working on genealogy and historic preservation projects. There's a chance I might get some freelance work this year in these fields, but even if I don't I need to plan and work on some projects.
Remember why I'm doing this.

This is what I've learned over the last couple of years. Start where you are. Is your whole life one big mess? You can't fix it all at once. I found a great job. My self-confidence started to increase. I had more disposable income. I started working on really getting on top of my money situation. Etc.

My life isn't perfect and even if I work hard at all these goals all year it still won't be perfect. It will be better, and it will be better for J and our beloved furs.

So. What are you working on this year?

Super Affordable Mid-Century Modern Style Beds

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 13:27:00 +0000

Original Photo From Retro Ranch.

I feel like I've been searching for the perfect bed forever. Or, you know, at least a year. (Yes, our current bed is held up with a concrete block from the tragic bed breaking incident of 2012.)

I mean, am I asking to much to find an affordable, comfortable bed with mid-century styling?

Maybe. What do I want specifically? Something comfortable, some with a low profile, and a wooden or upholstered frame. I don't want a headboard with a metal bedframe.

Here are my current favorites.

From Macy's.

The Kyle bed from Macy's hits a lot of MCM benchmarks. Tapered legs. Upholstered headboard. Nice, low profile. Finding a bed where the headboard isn't taller than I am has been a major challenge. Super high headboards are fantastic in homes with high ceilings. In homes with 8-foot ceilings? No. The headboard, especially on a modern styled bed, shouldn't be 5-feet tall.

ANYWAY. The line of button tufting is also really classic. Nice. Around $999 without a sale; currently $799.

From CB2

Here's the CB2 Andes bed. I like that it's not upholstered. I like that it's so structural and full of function. I think it's an interesting, modern twist on mid-century bookshelf beds. However, I think the flat piece behind the mattress will make it more comfortable than the bookcase headboard beds (those were not awesome for lounging). The whole look is very boutique hotel chic, with a nice callback to mid-twentieth century roadside motels. That works for me. Currently retails for $849.

From Crate and Barrel

Crate and Barrel offers up the Isaac Charcoal Bed. As far as beds go, especially modern ones, it's really affordable, with even the king size ringing in at around $500. It's also really, really simple. The simplicity of the bed would look fantastic with more rococo or baroque sixties or seventies style dresser or other bedroom furniture.

From Amazon

Remember how I mentioned I don't want a headboard/metal bed frame (I think they are called Boston frames, which brings back memories of my Boston back brace/scoliosis/middle school hell). Here's an affordable wooden bed frame from Amazon.

I love this. NOW I could buy some super awesome headboard from the thrift store, and still have a nice wooden bed frame. Especially if you are up for restraining one of the elements (and if the headboard was in good shape, I'd go with modifying the new frame!) or repainting both if the headboard is in bad shape, it could look fantastic.

This option appeals to me because although more and more mid-century styled furniture is available for purchase, I'm not really seeing the low profile wooden headboards with interesting, organic details.

Like this one.

From eBay.

I've actually read bloggers report finding Broyhill Brasilia headboards on the side of the road or in thrift stores. This has never happened to me. But just look at those lines!

Also from eBay.

Here's another classic headboard shape you can find fairly frequently. A simple, divided Danish Modern style wooden headboard. This one is from Dixie Furniture, who did lots of great knockoffs of mid-century and Danish modern during the twentieth century.

Of course, if you are up for vintage (and you are willing to spend between $500-$1000 anyway) you could go all in and just buy a complete vintage bed.

And? eBay again.

Maybe you'll be extremely lucky and find a complete Heywood-Wakefield bed. Sigh. Look at the pretty! This is a double, but queen size beds come up fairly regularly and complete vintage king beds even show up on occasion.

What kind of bed do you prefer? Did you get a great deal?

Where Do We Go From Here?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 17:08:00 +0000

Back in the day I LOVED Buffy. LOVED IT. I even loved Dawn and her shiny, shiny hair.

However, since it went off the air (almost ten years ago! WTF!!!), I haven't seen a single episode.

Then one Saturday morning I woke up at seven and started flipping around the channels and I found it.

Buffy. On F/X. Seven days a week. Earlier in the week F/X showed Once More, With Feeling (the musical ep for you non-Buffy fans). Y'all, this just about made my life when it came out (I even owned the CD!). I have to say it hit me in a very different way than it did a decade ago.

ANYWAY this is a very long winded introduction for a simple topic. I kind of hate when bloggers abandon their blog and then come back with some big long story. I mean, unless you jumped into a lightening field to save your sister-the big green ball of energy-I probably don't care. And I'm going to assume no one really cares why I let this blog sit, either. I mean, it basically goes new job/weekend job/freelancing/ill husband/my own issues/pets/life/boring/boring/boring.

Part of why I let it sit, though, is sort of relevant. Middle Class Modern started off as a very vintage focused DIY blog. Well, I'm still vintage focused. But I don't have the time/money/inclination to keep up the focus on DIY, and therefore I let the blog fester.

So I'm retrenching and rebranding. Ergo, Where Do We Go From Here. From now on I'm going to blather on about whatever captures my attention. Pets. Building a good work wardrobe. Dealing with a chronically ill spouse. My own depression. Grief. Books. Thrift store shopping. Cooking. Money. Saving money. Cleaning. Organizing. Et cetera. The first two posts this week are pretty representative of how I think the blog might work.

I'd love for all my current/former readers to come along for the ride!

Building A Work Friendly Wardrobe From Scratch

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Earlier in the year (also known as the time this blog dropped off the face of the earth...), I was hired for a normal, go-to-work-everyday-with-other-humans-and-also-interact-with-the-public job for the first time since 2008, when I started freelancing.

I knew I'd love the job, and I do. It requires using a good mix of all my (rather disparate) skills and experience.

There was one small problem. Since I'd started freelancing I'd also gotten married, had a baby, dealt with serious depression/grief bacon eating, and moved a couple of times. I also hadn't really bought any new clothes since about 2008.

Basically? My okay to wear outside of the house wardrobe was down to two pairs of jeans, a few pairs of flats, some scarves, one dress, a skirt, and a few sweaters. Yep, that's it. And my new job didn't allow jeans!

What I didn't want to do was run out and buy a lot of stuff that was merely okay, or bought out of desperation. I'm cheap. And my version of cheap doesn't correspond with buying a lot of cheap stuff that doesn't last, or doesn't really work, or isn't exactly what I want. I guess I'm more frugal than cheap. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself! I need every penny I spend on my wardrobe to really count.

Now that doesn't mean I'm willing or able to shell out major bucks for what I want or need. I'm not/can't. So I need every penny I spend to count. And I don't want a lot of stuff. I want a wardrobe where I really, really like everything in it and where stuff really works well together.

I also know I'm not the only person in this position. College grads, job changers, moms reentering the work force, freelancers rejoining the 9-5 all need to build or rebuild workable work wardrobes. And if you are plus-size it seems even more impossible to build a professional wardrobe that works, is your style, and suits your idea of flattering.

So if you are starting a work wardrobe/starting over, what should you do?

1. Get to Pinning
I started a secret Pinterest board and every time I saw an outfit I really liked or a piece of clothing that inspired lust, I pinned it. (I've since started a new board, and it's public.)

2. What Did You Dress Like As A Kid?
I remember being in the little girl's section of Rich's with my mom when I was about six or seven buying new school clothes. I was frustrating the hell out of the poor woman. See, my mother and my styles have never synched up. I remember she told me that she might as well just sew bands of fabric to the bottoms of my current clothes, because I just wanted to buy the same things over and over.

From ebay. Not my dress, but I'm pretty sure I owned one just like it.

She was right. I did. I went through my childhood very happily in Polly Flinders dresses, simple cardigans, and patent leather Mary Janes. I had a love affair with sun dresses and thick-strapped sandals. I hated sneakers. I was okay with jeans but hated all other pants. Although I loved dresses (and swedish smocking!) I didn't like flounces and fussy details (there's a fantastic picture of my other girl cousins and me at my grandparents' golden anniversary. They are flounced out and I'm wearing a dress that looks like a cream silk blouse tucked into a navy blue velvet skirt. I'd still wear that outfit today if it came in my size. This is a grown-up version. I'm kind of in love. If only it had long sleeves!).

3. What Are Your Favorite Clothing Items You've Ever Owned?
Next I made a list of my favorite clothing items, ever. The perfect black baby doll dress from high school. A floral pencil skirt I wore to rags. My navy blue patent peep toe wedges. A wool plaid skirt from Ann Taylor I wore for years. And a whole lot of other plaid skirts. My first Coach leather bucket bag (it was stolen. I still miss it).

Here's one of my favorite outfits from about six (gah!) years ago.

I'm wearing a navy a-line dress, a gray cashmere flowy cardigan, a polka dot and flowered scarf from Urban Outfitters. A sleek, low ponytail. I'm actually wearing my beloved navy blue wedges. This is pretty representative of how I dressed throughout the mid-to-late aughts.

4. What Do You Need Clothes For?

Work, obviously. But what's the official dress code/how do your coworkers and bosses dress/what do you actually do at your job? In my case, our official dress code is business casual with jeans specifically forbidden. My coworkers wear a pretty wide range of clothing styles.

The biggest limitation is that I work in an administrative-type job at an independent school spread out over a few buildings on hilly land. So heels are out for me. I need shoes I can run around in. Also, because its a school, I tend toward covering up more than I would in another setting.

Don't forget weekends. I want cute, put together looks for running errands, attending the roughly fourteen thousand festivals that take place in my small town, and all the other weekend-type things. I'm going to need a cocktail dress, but I haven't got there yet.

5. Write A List Of Everything You Already Own
It sounds crazy, but it's really necessary. Have you read the 20/20 (twenty wardrobe pieces become twenty outfits) or the 30/30 (thirty pieces become thirty outfits over thirty days) challenges popular around the blogsphere? I highly suggest reading a few. It's amazing how many outfits (with a little ingenuity!) you can wring from a few pieces of clothing. I started work in the spring, and made it through the summer (which is a smidge more casual at my workplace) with four dresses, three skirts, a handful of tanktops, and four summer-weight cardigans/blazers. (Some of these pieces aren't fall friendly. My current work-wardrobe consists of five dresses, four skirts, two long sleeve tops, the same handful of layering tanks, and three cardigans/blazers.)

Now come up with as many outfit combinations as possible. This is great because it gives you a list of ready to go outfits. It's also awesome because it lets you see the holes in your wardrobe. In my case, I really need a black belt and at least two more cardigans. I also need a few more scarves/colorful necklaces.

From Here

For example. I think I'd get a lot of wear out a mustard cardigan. It would look great over my navy dress, gray and white dress, black skirt, brown skirt, and jeans. It looks better on the website than it does here!

6. Analyze and Sum Up Your Style!
Go through everything. What are you pinning? What did you like as a kid? What are your favorite wardrobe pieces/outfits ever? What do you need clothes for? What do you already own/what do you really need?

When I went through my pinterest board I realized I pinned a lot of knee high boots/dark jeans/cardigan/scarf combinations. I also pinned lots of knee high boots/dress/scarf combos. I'm obviously a big fan of the look! The rest of my pins reflected relatively classic looks with retro vintage touches.

From My Color Fashion

This is pretty representative of a lot of my pins. Simple dress, knee high boots. I also discovered I really, really like a mix of browns and blacks.

It's super important that you look at your pins with a realistic eye. A lot of my images feature very svelte, tall bloggers or models with slim hips and chests. I'm short, and am a fat hourglass (chubby with big boobs, big butt. still small waist). A lot of things I love need major tweaking to look right on me.

Looking at my favorite ever pieces helped here. Wrap dresses (or dresses with wrap detail) work well for me. What do your favorite pieces have in common? I really like interesting skirts. I really like cardigans. Dresses make me feel pulled together with minimum effort. I love classic, ladylike pieces. I don't like anything sporty. Et cetera.

So this is part one of thoughtfully creating a new wardrobe. Have you ever had the chance to start your wardrobe from scratch? What worked for you?

Long Time No See

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:14:00 +0000

Yeah...I've been away for awhile. I've missed this blog and my readers (both of you) very much!

I recently came across this retrospective on Glamour Shots. It reminded me of a terribly embarrassing incident from my own adolescence.

The time I went to Glamour Shots.

So that you realize how out of character this was for me, you must realize I was more Angela Chase than Brenda Walsh. I spent most of middle school wearing black and white clothes, reading Sassy, and rolling my eyes (I was a champion eye roller) at the suburban pursuits of my classmates.

Yes, I was a lot of fun.

But somehow, on a spring Saturday, I ended up Glamour Shots with my aunt and little cousin. Why? Maybe because I was (and am) a bit of an event whore?

After I cracked a joke about them on Facebook, my mother actually scanned them in. And, as punishment for ignoring this here blog, I thought I'd share them.

As I look at these pictures, I try to reconstruct what I was thinking as a I picked these costumes from Galmour Shot's collection and as I posed.

Like this look. WTH was I thinking? I look like a white trash vixen (like Heather Locklear on Dynasty). J hates this one, because he first saw it at my grandmother's house right after we started dating. He was all "this is kind of a sexy picture of you, even if you have waaaayyyy to much makeup on."

Then I told him I was twelve when it was taken. He now HATES this picture because it freaks him out. Ha.

This outfit looks the most like Tracie in 1991. Dark. No decoration.

However, I didn't usually pair these outfits with curly hair and heavy makeup. I commented on Facebook that I look like a stripper posing as an attorney.

This picture is my favorite. I look pained. Probably from the awkward posing. Or the huge, heavy clip-on earrings. Or both.

Does anyone else have awkward Glamour Shots from their younger years?

Our First Giveaway Winner

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 01:29:00 +0000

Middle Class Modern's first ever giveaway ended tonight at 7 EDT. Whose the winner of the collection of Malco Products, including Jubilee, Zud, and Twinkle?

Using Random.org the lucky number was commenter number 7...

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:7Powered by RANDOM.ORG
...Relia Mazing! Who says she always needs more cleaning products.

Thanks to Malco for sponsoring the giveaway, and thanks to all of you whom entered.

Get Organized For Spring

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 14:59:00 +0000

This isn't a spring cleaning post (although one is probably in the offing!). This more a list of things you need to do now, while winter is still hanging over all of our heads, so you can really enjoy the warm weather that's just around the corner!

Photo From How Stuff Works

1. Clean Our Your Air Conditioner

Few things are worse than waiting to turn your a/c on until you really need it (I'm one of those people who puts it off as long as possible) and then it not actually turning on! And naturally this happened to multiple other people, so the HVAC repair people can't get out to you immediately...

Improve your odds by following these simple instructions on cleaning your window unit or central air system. Yeah, they need cleaning. Then give them a test run so you can make sure everything is ready to go!

Photo From All Natural Store

2. Find A Farmer's Market

I'm a huge farmer's market booster. During the summer season I usually go at least once a week. The vegetables are, naturally, out of this world but you can also buy local honey, meat, eggs (and even meet the chicken who laid them!), prepared food, plants...it's amazing! Use this link to find your local farmer's market.

Photo From My Lot

3. Get Your Clothes Ready

Our master bedroom boasts of one fairly small closet and one chest of drawers. So we rotate our clothes in and out, using the larger closet in the spare room to store our out of season clothes. Right now our summer stuff is in there but over the next few weeks I'll start moving sweaters and sweats into the closet and pulling our summer wear back into our bedroom

This is also a good time to go through your clothes and decide what you need. J and I both need flip flops and summer shoes. I'm digging these Hogan turquoise striped canvas thong sandals although they are WAY out of my price range.

Here's a great link with ideas for organizing out of season clothing.

4. Set Up Your Outdoor Space

Photo From 1927 Countryside

We've lived here two years and we still don't have a good space outdoors for hanging out. I'm currently digging these benches made from pallets. We have a small deck, but these would provide a LOT of seating and we could pop a small circular table like this into the space for dining.

Speaking of dining, we don't have a grill! Crazy! We are SO getting one this summer. I'm not sure if it'll be a simple charcoal grill or a fancy gas grill with side burners, but I LOVE grilling out and it is past time we created an outdoor cooking space.

Emily pondering how much she hates flea meds.

5. Get Your Pets Ready

First, lets talk flea meds. I'm so conflicted about them. I don't like the idea of these chemicals coursing through Emily's body (we haven't used them yet on Nola, but given her health issues I'm even more leery of using them on her). I don't know if you've ever gotten any of the meds on your hand, but as soon as it hits your skin you get the WORST taste in your mouth. Gross.

However. Where we live is over run with fleas (maybe because we live by the lake?). All the neighbors battle them, too. And the more natural remedies we've pursued, and even giving Emily a weekly flea bath, doesn't work during summer. So we do all the prevention stuff but if we see a flea we break out the big guns for a couple of months.

If you are planning a summer vacation that includes the pets or includes them boarding somewhere while you are gone, remember to make get copies of their medical records from their vet and make sure they are up to date on their rabies and kennel cough vaccines.

Cavalier Motel, Outerbanks

6. Plan some summer fun!

We haven't been anywhere together in FOREVER. I'm busily pinning all sorts of ideas so we can plan a little getaway. Some of my favorites? Figure out a driving route that includes all major landmarks, a list of all factory tours by state (J would love this!), and I love the idea of this website where you plug in your start and ending places and it fills in all the cool stuff you could do along the way.

I love the beach, and I love vintage-y places (J interprets this as "Tracie loves to stay in places that makes me think of the Bates Motel") and I think the Cavalier looks AWESOME.

7. How Old ARE Your Sneakers?

My current sneakers are ancient. And I don't know if I've ever mentioned this on the blog, but I have scoliosis (former Boston Brace wearers, represent!), crazy flat feet, and overpronate like CRAZY. Ergo, I'm incredibly hard on my shoes.

I've heard good things about running shoes with metal springs. I KILL the cushioning in my sneakers, and these are supposedly very durable, along with providing lots of shock absorption (which I need). I'm planning on ordering some soon.

This is a good time to think about getting new running shoes, because hopefully we are all about to be more active as warm weather hits.

Affiliate links are included in this post.

What steps are y'all taking to get ready for spring?

A Day In The Life

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Last Tuesday I kept running notes about my day. Welcome to my world, everyone. Updates are in italics.

5:00 AM: Once or twice a month J has to go in for labs. These appointments are always soul crushingly early. Sometimes they are quick appointments; sometimes they last for HOURS. Luckily, today should be a quick appointment. Also, I'm just the driver so I get to go in my pajamas. #TheresAlwaysASilverLining

Unluckily, I didn't go to bed until 11 and J had a hard night. I should've slept on the sofa, because I think I got maybe three hours of uninterrupted sleep. Where's the coffee?

6:00 AM: Emily and I are hanging out in the car, waiting on J. I'm using the time to get a jump start on my day- going through my inboxes, proofreading today's post one last time, approving and responding to a couple of comments (the pedipaws post was rather controversial!).

6:30-8:00 AM: Time to get ready! First I head off to the kitchen and throw together the ingredients for chicken and lentil stew. I know I won't have time to make dinner later, and I'm hoping it'll be ready for me to pack some up and take it for lunch. And I don't like to leave J without anything to eat.

Afterwards I grab a shower and quickly get dressed. So quickly I put my heel through the hem of my slacks. I have enough time to quickly hem it back and run into the spare room to press the hem.

There's a slight problem.

Where the *?!!??!!!((***!!! is the ironing board cover? Where? I very vaguely remember taking the cover off for some reason but I can't remember what that reason was OR where I placed said cover. I toss a folded beach towel on the board cursing myself the whole time. (Five days later and I STILL don't know what I did with the cover!)

Kiss J and the furries good-bye, head out the door.

8:00-9:00 AM: Commuting. Someone remind me why we moved so far out? The sun is out, the traffic is slow moving, and I feeeel the lack of sleep. Also, I realize halfway to Atlanta that the lunch I carefully packed? I left sitting on the kitchen counter. Awesome.

9:00-2:00: Although I usually do my freelance work from home, occasionally I venture forth to a client's office. This is one of those days. Luckily? I love these clients! And although they have a lot of things that need addressing, they make time to take me to lunch. I love going out to lunch. I especially love Mediterranean sandwich shops (I have a lamb shawarma. So delicious!)

Photo From Ever New Recipes

They have a huge project they need done YESTERDAY, so when I leave I know that they alone are going to keep me very busy this week, since they need it finished by Friday...

As I'm putting my stuff back in the trunk, I spy the box of recycling that's been chilling back there since Sunday. Whoops. (Update: Five days later I finally managed to drop the recycling off. This occured because of my embarrassment as I edited this post.)

2:00: As I'm walking back to my car I get a text from J. There's a problem with one of his prescriptions. I call the drug store. They tell me they didn't receive the refill authorization. I call the doctor's office. I very clearly remember speaking to the office IN PERSON about this refill. They remember it, too. The problem? It's what the problem ALWAYS IS.

Doctors' office apparently no longer call in refills. They use a service that faxes them into the pharmacy.

Faxes. Them. In.

Has there ever, in the history of technology, been a piece of equipment that works the way its supposed to as RARELY as the fax machine? And why in the $%%^^&&*^%$#@$ are we still using this god-awful dinosaur in 2013? FAX MACHINES SUCK.

Honestly, my most feared phrase in the English language? "I'll just/can you fax this." AHH!!!!!! Let's just accept the eighties are over and scan/email these documents like the adults we are! When something goes awry with an email, there's a trail! There's the initial email! Faxes are akin to sending needed information in a bottle and tossing it into the ocean! Who knows when it will finally show up!

The issue doesn't get resolved, but the pharmacy loans us two days worth while this issue is resolved. (Update: It was, indeed, the fax machines fault.)

3:00-3:40: I'm home! Emily and Nola are happy. J thanks me for dealing with the refill snafu. I check in on the blog, go through my blog and business emails, change clothes, and head out to my part time job. There's more blog business than usual to attend to this week, mostly because I'm arranging Middle Class Modern's first ever giveaway and publishing my first sponsored post. Yay!

4:00-8:00: My other job. I drink lots of caffeine. No one feeds me awesome Mediterranean sandwiches.

8:00-midnight: Grocery store run. I load up on caffeine, milk, and cat food. Get home, jump in the shower, finally have some of the stew I made this morning. Delish. (Alas, a better blogger would've taken pictures.)

When I flip on the television I'm super disappointed, because at some point during the day I became convinced it was Wednesday. So...no Modern Family, no The Americans. At least there's an SVU marathon.

Cozy in my pajamas I catch up on a couple of smaller freelance projects, prep the Jubilee post for Wednesday morning, and then attack my new project. Around midnight, as I'm drowsing over my laptop, Miss Nola Kitty jumps in my lap and demands cuddles. I take it as a sign and put the laptop up for the night.

Giveaway: Clean It Up, Heritage Style

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 12:00:00 +0000

This Giveaway is now closed!

It's with great glee (and dare I say...jubilation!) that I announce Middle Class Modern's very first giveaway!

The fine people at Malco Consumer Products have put together a gift package of their heritage cleaning products, including Jubilee®, Grease Relief®, Twinkle® Silver and Brass & Copper Polish, Mr. Coffee® Cleaner, Zud®, and Bluette®. (I reviewed Jubilee last week...) These are classic, heritage cleaning products Malco has reintroduced to the market. For those of us dealing with old houses and old house surfaces, these products make a lot of sense!

The Details

The Prize: A collection of cleaning products from Malco Consumer Products

How To Enter: Leave a comment! It's really just that simple. If you'd like to earn extra entries, follow me on Pinterest or like Middle Class Modern on Facebook. Leave a comment for each action you take! The comment can be as simple as "Pinterest." If you already follow me, leave a comment for each platform!

Lets Make This Fun: What's your least favorite thing to clean? (Mine? Bathroom grout. Eww.)

Number Of Winners: One

Prize Ships: Directly from Malco to the winner! This contest is only open to those in the United States.

Da rules: Random.org will pick the winner.

So...who what when where why: The contest ends on Sunday, March 24th at 7pm EDT. I'll announce the winner Monday, March 25th.

Full Disclosure: I wasn't paid for hosting this giveaway. (Malco did send me a sample of Jubilee to review.) Pictures from Malco.

Good luck, everyone!

It's Pi Day, And It's Also Date Night

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:45:00 +0000

Okay, its more like Date Afternoon because I have to work tonight!

But the main point? It's Pi Day, the day we celebrate the never ending number 3.14etcetera. Did you know it's also Einstein's birthday? Seems appropriate, no?

Y'all, I've been absolutely SLAMMED this week. One of my freelance clients needed a big project done ASAP, we've had lots of J medical appointments, and I've been working a lot of hours at my other job.

All of this means I haven't had a lot of downtime and we certainly haven't had quality time (roughly defined as time we are both awake, in the same room, and I'm not attached to my laptop!). So a miniature dinner and a movie geek fest seemed appropriate and needed. Because of time and money crunches, it was important we have a cheap and easy date night.

First we needed dinner. I hit up my freezer stash. In honor of the day, I had to serve pie, right?

Remember when I told you guys that J's favorite dinner is chicken pot pie and so I always keep some on hand for quick meals?

A Marie Callender's Chicken Pot Pie was waiting in our freezer (um, along with my paint roller). How much do I love an on-theme dinner that also is J's favorite AND requires very little hands on time from me? If you need to add some frozen pies to your freezer, Marie Callender's is offering a coupon good for a $1.50 off of any one of their frozen pies. The link is live through March 21, 2013 and the coupon is good through March 31, 2013. Affordable and...

Easy! Prep is as simple as removing the pie from the box, wrapping the edges of the crust in a strip of aluminum foil and placing it in the oven on 400 for about an hour. And during that hour I can catch up on some other work. Awesome. Check out Marie Callender's blog for great entertaining tips and other great tips! Also on their website you can review and rate any Marie Callender's frozen meal. I'm super curious about the Chicken Corn Chowder Pot Pie. I love chicken corn chowder generally (I love almost any chowder, generally!) so this sounds awesome.

Ahh...a happy J! True confession? We're totally going to eat in bed while we watch our movie! It's a holiday, so rules of normal civility just go flying out the window! (Right?)

Now, for the next part of our Pi Day Date Night/Afternoon? A viewing of Star Trek. One of our favorite movies! The next entry in the JJ Abrams reboot comes out in May and we are ridiculously excited. We're going to have leave the house for that date night! Although, knowing us, we'll still probably end up eating Marie Callender's frozen chicken pot pies before we go. For now, watching a DVD in bed while eating a yummy dinner seems a fantastic treat. All in all, a cheap and easy (and super enjoyable!) date night treat!

So how are y'all celebrating Pi Day this year?

(I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.)

Jubilee In My Sad Bathroom?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:13:00 +0000

I was sent a free sample of Jubilee to review on this here blog; however I wasn't paid and all the opinions are mine! All mine!

Our bathroom kills me. One of the things I liked best about this house is that came with a completely intact pink tile bathroom. Nothing says "Eisenhower was president when this place was built" quite like a candy colored tile bathroom, right?

What kills me about this bathroom is that it's in horrible condition. Decades of renters and poor maintenance haven't been kind to the vintage tile and fixtures.

My biggest complaint is that no matter how often I clean the bathroom it ends up looking dingy and gross within days.

Jubilee Kitchen Wax is a heritage product. The first occupants of Casa MCM could've used it when the tile was fresh and new (...although I find it hard to believe the tile was ever cleaned before we moved in! SO GROSS!!!!). Malco Products licensed the product from SC Johnson (from my research it appears the product was sometimes referred to as Johnson's kitchen wax).

I read a lot of vintage housekeeping manuals and kitchen wax is often mentioned. Y'all know that I believe in green, DIY cleaners. However. My grandmothers' generation were fantastic at making things shine, and more importantly, MAKING THINGS LAST. They used this product for a reason.

Jubilee claims you can use it on wood, enamel, ceramic tile, Formica, et cetera. I was obviously most excited about the ceramic tile part. I wanted to try it on the floor (which is just awful), but the bottle states "not for use on floors." Yeah, waxed ceramic floors in the bathroom might be a little dangerous.

I wiped down the tile walls as usual. Then I used a piece of Frog tape to mark off part of this wall, so I could really see the difference between using the Jubilee and not. I applied a small amount of Jubilee to a damp sponge and attacked the wall. Then I wiped it off with a clean white rag (all according the instructions.)

Wow. It REALLY made a difference. The grout, which always looks so bad that I usually think only regrouting will make it look better, showed the biggest difference.

You can really see the difference in the corner grout. Jubilee also cleans as it waxes.

Here's a picture after a few days went by.

The bottom has attracted its normal amount of pet hair, Tracie hair, and general weirdness. The top still looks shiny and like it's been recently cleaned.

(This bathroom is SO HARD TO PHOTOGRAPH REALISTICALLY. I mentioned back in the day that it always looks so much shinier and nicer in pictures!)

The only con to Jubilee is that it, in my opinion, it smells strongly. Not bad-just strong. After I opened the window it wasn't so bad.

I love how it made the tile look. I'm painting the bathroom next weekend (YAY FINALLY) and then I'm going to try waxing all the tile. I'll report back if I change my mind, but I doubt I will. I really think Jubilee wax might be the solution for making vintage tile look new and fresh. EASILY.

Recreate This Space: Making Danish Modern 2013 Modern

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Photo From Retro Renovation

Have I mentioned how much I love Pam from Retro Renovation? She posted this amazing ad from 1952 featuring Danish Modern furniture from the late, lamented Rich's Department Store. Amazing how truly modern this vintage ad looks! I mean, I think I could live pretty happily in the room as is.

Also, as proof that nothing is ever new in home decor? This entire space is greige, the particular gray beige (...which is really taupe, in my head anyway) which took over the colorscape in 2012.

However, there are some dated elements to this amazing space. The window treatments The huuuuugggggeeee mid-century lamps.

So then I decided to use this as an inspiration and piece and design a very modern take on this room.

The Eisenhower Sofa from Thrive Furniture seemed a no-brainer when recreating the original Danish Modern space. I like the oatmeal-y gray textured upholstery. You might get lucky and find a couple of vintage sofas you could recover! I mean, I'M never that lucky, but still!

CB2 Arc Lamp

While I love the original, huge, unbelievably tall table lamps I do think they are dated. What I like best about them is their sculpturalness. So I thought a couple of these lamps would fill in nicely, adding height and interesting shapes to the room. I'd place one by the arm closest to the window on one sofa and place the second lamp on the desk side of the room on the other sofa, just to break up the symmetry a bit.

West Elm Andulsia Rug

I love the bright yellow and green the floor cushions bring into the room in the original picture. While I'm not a floor pillow kind of person I do like a good rug (and hate the monochrome carpet Rich's used in their ad). So I went with this West Elm harvest gold rug. The room needs a small shot of pattern!

West Elm Desk

Here's another West Elm pick. A wonderful, leggy desk barely peeps into the corner of the original ad. Instead of going with another set of Danish Modern legs, I decided the organic metal legs of the Metal Truss Work Table were a fresher choice, while honoring the simplicity of the original piece.

Room and Board

This Room and Board dining chair isn't the chair of my dreams, but its close. I wanted to mix another shade of gray and more shapely legs. I really like how it subtly recalls the designs of the era directly preceding the Danish Modern/Mid-Century Modern era.

CB2

So many pictures of "styled" fifties interiors feature coffee tables placed in completely unusable locations within the room. I like a coffee table in front of the sofa, where I can place a drink or prop my legs. I didn't want to cover up the yummy rug, and there's SO MANY FANTASTIC LEGS going on in this room I didn't want to add more. The clear CB2 peekaboo table was the perfect solution. It provides lots of workable space without creating additional visual clutter. This helps maintain the sleek modernity of the original concept.

Amazon

The original windows had some bizarre oversized valance and curtain combo happening. A simple bamboo roll up shade brings the room into 2013. It also layers in another warm texture. I do like how the window treatments are floor to ceiling and definitely think this new fictional room should follow suit!

Ikea

Ikea's AINA curtains appear to have a fantastic linen-ish texture. I love this soft gray, especially against the bamboo shades.

One Kings Lane

My initial impulse would be a whole wall of questionable art over one of the sofas. However. I do like the restraint shown by picking one, perfect piece. It appears the artwork in the ad might be a large pencil drawing or lithograph.

Eh. I love both of those things, but not here. Here I think a bright splash of color is needed. So this vintage piece that brings in the grays and yellow from the rug and gives the room a sense of movement.

Plus...I love seascapes.

Now, wall color? I couldn't decide! A true white? A warm greige? What do you guys guys think?

While there are affiliate links (Amazon, One Kings Lane, Thrive) I really do pick the items I love best when I do these kind of these posts!

The Care And Feeding of Dog and Cat Nails

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Or, how to give a dog a manicure (and also a cat. More than that in a moment).

I think I've alluded to this a few times, but Emily isn't the sort of girl to spend the day at the doggie spa. Partly because I'm cheap; partly because Emily gets a little nervous when it comes to grooming.

So we DIY it.

Here's Emily, right before I ordered the Pedi Paws. She DESPERATELY needed a pedicure!

Now, I figured out how to cut Emily's hair pretty quickly (trimming scissors, J's hair clippers), but her NAILS were awful. Since she was a tiny puppy Emily has HATED anyone messing with her paws. She hated having her nails trimmed at the groomers. She wasn't any more fond of me doing it.

Image From Amazon

One night I saw the PediPaws commercial, pondered it, ordered it off Amazon.

Here's where I admit I'm capable of an intense amount of dumbness. I thought the PediPaws ...well, I don't know what I thought it did, exactly. But it was along the lines of I thought it clipped the nail, but had a sensor that kept it from clipping the quick.

I don't even know.

That's not, by the way, how it works. It's really like a little Dremel. In fact, a brilliant friend uses a Dremel on her basset hound's nails.

My honest opinion (and I paid for the PediPaws , and other than throwing in an affiliate link am not getting paid for this post)? I LOVE IT.

Emily doesn't necessarily adore it, but she will let me trim her nails with it. If I toss her a couple of Whisker Lickins she'll lay there contently while I grind away.

Now, let's talk Nola. Nola's previous owners declawed her front paws. Not a decision I would make. Her back claws are intact. She also has a benign tumor on her chest. Unfortunately, she has a bad habit of scratching at said tumor until it bleeds.

I googled around for information about using PediPaws on a cat. The response was mixed, with lots of people saying their cats' nail didn't reach through the safety cap of the pedipaws.

I didn't have that problem. Again, with the help of Whisker Lickins (Emily, the dog, refuses most dog treats but is addicted to these; Nola acts like they are her heart's true desire.) Nola will lay in my lap and let me dull the edge of her claws.

All in all, I'm very happy with my purchase. The PediPaws only came with two filing heads, but I bought mine in October and use it regularly with both pets and I just switched to the second head. Amazon sells PediPaws replacement filing heads for around $6.

Oster also sells a version; I'd love to hear from any of you who have used it.

How To Pick The Perfect Ceiling Fan. Also? A Gallery of Modern Fans

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Does this sound familiar to you? Someone who enjoys good design buys a house. The house comes with multiple ceiling fans. What's the first thing they do?

Rip out every freaking ceiling fan.

Y'all, I'm from the South. The Deep South. The Humid South. I'd rather have the ugliest ceiling fan in existence (and this house came with some truly hideous ceiling fans) than not have a ceiling fan (and no, table top fans don't count).

I see so many pictures of bedroom with romantic chandeliers over the bed. Do you know what I think is romantic? Not being so hot and sticky that the mere thought of J's arm brushing mine makes me want to scream. Not waking up with the sheets sticking to me is also awesome.

Also ceiling fans are a truly green, frugal choice. A good ceiling fan will keep you cool in the summer and warm in the winter (flip the switch that changes the direction of the blades).

And you know what? There are actually attractive, modern fans on the market. So lets discuss...

...how to pick the perfect fan.

1. Keep It Simple.

Ceiling fans can be awkward. Boob lights are ugly. Why would you combine the two? Why? A general rule of thumb with ceiling fans is that the simpler, the better. The ugly usually comes in through the light kit. If you have an existing fan with an ugly light consider taking it off. Amazon (and hardware stores) sell add on light kits if you like having an overhead light.

2. Pick The Right Size and Kind of Fan

Ceiling fans come in sizes between 50" and 70". Try to keep your fan proportionate to the size of your room. If you are unsure, tape the area off on your ceiling. Truly large rooms will be better off with two average sized fans over one large one.

Mounts are the problematic element.

The types of mounts are flush, standard, extended mount and sloped. Flush mounts lay right against the ceiling. These are best for homes with eight foot ceilings.

Here's a classic ceiling mounted fan. It's very simple!

The next type of mount is the standard. These are the fans that hang from a small bar from the ceiling.

These fans can be rather claustrophobic in homes with lower ceilings. This was the standard mount for older ceiling fans; this is what EVERY SINGLE FAN IN MY HOUSE HAS. (Nice, sleek fan, though!)

Extended mount ceiling fans are for homes with lofted ceilings.

Sloped mounts allow extended mount fans to be safely mounted on sloped walls.

3. Awesome Fans Exist

You heard me. I spent a little time on Amazon, Home Depot, and Design Within Reach and found amazing, modern fans ranging in price from about fifty to five hundred dollars.

Here are my favorites!

The Amazon Fans! Click on the picture to go to the listing!

Fans From Design Within Reach. These are the nicest lights I've seen on any fans.

Design Within Reach

Home Depot Fans- Affordable Options.

Home Depot

So what do you guys think of ceiling fans?

Beyond The Book: Arthur Hailey's Hotel

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:00:00 +0000

This post covers collecting, a crazy old book, hotel design, Disney World, and urban legends. Hang in there!

I've mentioned my parents enjoyed antiqueing when I was a kid, and I quickly realized developing my own collections would make our weekend jaunts a whole lot more exciting. Something to look for! And since I was quite the little bookworm, collecting books was a natural fit.

This fact helps explain why my reading habits closely resemble those of your average AARP member.

So today I thought I'd write about one of my favorite old books, Arthur Hailey's Hotel.

Arthur Hailey was the James Patterson of the sixties and seventies. Instead of murder mysteries, Hailey turned out potboilers centered around a crisis in different professional settings- hospitals, government, airports, public utilities, the automobile industries, banks, news broadcasts, and police departments.

The plot themselves are of the white-collar, middle-aged man career in trouble finds love in the workplace variety. If Jacqueline Susann pioneered the Sex and Shopping novel, then Arthur Hailey pioneered the Sex and Work Crisis novel.

Let's talk Hotel. An independent New Orleans hotel, owned by the exactly as racist as you'd expect for his generation and class Warren Trent, is teetering on the edge of financial disaster. Curtis O'keefe, a thinly veiled Conrad Hilton-esque character, arrives in town to take the hotel over. Hotel manager and Bright Young Thing Peter McDermott is only at the the St Gregory because of a scandal involving sexing up a married woman at a New York hotel which has so marred his name he can't get a job anywhere else (this is weak tea. Even Hailey seems to think this is super dumb. He should've tarnished Peter with a better scandal). Meanwhile he's falling in love with tragedy plagued hotel secretary Christine even as the trouble plagued teenage heiress Marsha Prescott pursues him.

Filling out the secondary characters are a bad tempered French chef, an on the make bell captain, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor's evil alternate universe twins, a Canadian miner with a secret, a dentist with a crisis of social conscious, and a thief. The secondary plots revolve around drunken hit and runs, drunken frat boy debacles, trophy girlfriends, mechanical failures, and race relations in New Orleans.

Seriously.

The BEST part of Arthur Hailey's novels is the insane amount of research he did on the setting. Hailey's plots might be soap opera-y but the amount of detail he reveals about the setting (in this case, the running of the a hotel in the mid 1960s) is astounding.

Honestly, read this book and you'll understand how hotels went from this...

Photo of Claridge's from New York Social Diary

to this...

Hotel Valley Ho from Historic Hotels

There was such a giant seismic shift in public buildings and service post-World War II. The amount of change, social and structural, that occurred was simply phenomenal. I don't think the world of 2013 and 1993 look all the different; but a huge change occurred between 1945 and 1965 (when Hotel was published).

Perhaps even more fascinating than the changes that did occur were the ones that didn't. Hailey studied up on cutting edge ideas for each of the fields he took on in his books. Many of these ideas didn't come to fruition.

There's a scene where O'keefe (the Hilton avatar) surveys the lobby and thinks about the all the ways he's going to modernize the St Gregory. Some ideas are super familiar to us today. He was going to cut down on less profitable tenants like florists and drugstores on the main floor; do away with lobby seating, so that people have to pay to sit in a restaurant or bar; and commercialize every square inch of space possible. He tells Warren Trent that you can sum up what the public wants from a hotel in three words "an efficient, economic package." Hailey's tracing the veer from old world individual service into the mass produced every hotel the same experience. (Wonder what O'keefe would make of the boutique hotel trend?)

Some other very basic ideas that were apparently revolutionary at the time are common place now. These include things like motor lobbies, key cards, and computerized systems.

Most of his other ideas I don't believe were ever commonly used in real hotels. These include helicopter pick-up at local airports; escalators dedicated to specific rooms (???); automated delivery systems for room service and purchases (using dumb waiters, I think); beds that recessed into walls were a machine would change the linen and make them up; and floors made of steel mesh that could be vacuumed from underneath. The ideas put forth by Hailey called for hotels to be built in completely new ways.

Oddly enough I think the real life hotel that best encompasses these ideas is Disney's Contemporary Resort.

Photo From Kingdom Travel

The contemporary opened in 1972 and this picture of the lobby shows the monorail cutting through the lobby (reminiscent of O'keefe's transportation schemes).

Photo From Yesterland

It's the construction of the Contemporary that really veers toward the modern hotel Hailey verbally sketched. The frame of the Disney World Contemporary is made of steel and concrete.

Photo From Yesterland

Here's where it gets interesting (finally, the three of you still reading this post think!). The hotel rooms were built off site, lifted by crane, and set into place amidst the steel girders and welded in.

Photo From Yesterland

These modules contained EVERYTHING. These sliding glass doors lead out to the balcony; inside was the entire, decorated hotel room and bathroom. The front of the module even contains the hallway floor directly outside the guest's door.

Here's where the urban legend comes in. Many people swear that the hotel was designed so that the modules could be taken out for repairs and redecoration.

Think about that for a moment. For the room to be repaired or redecorated the module would have to be cut out from the steel girders, disconnected from the electrical/plumbing/communication systems, lifted out by a crane and then trucked out for refurbishment. OR you could just send in a plumber, painter, and curtain hanger. Which sounds more economically feasible?

So what books are you'll obsessing over? And what's your favorite kind of hotel? Personally, I love both super modern and super old-fashioned. Anything but B&Bs are good for me!

Share Your Story: PJ's Repurposed Suitcase

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:05:00 +0000

It's another edition of Share Your Story! Do you have a project, room, collection, or tip you'd like to share? Use the contact form here or email me at middleclassmodern@gmail.com and share your story!

There are few things I like better than an upcycle of a good vintage find! I admired this project when PJ posted it on her fantastic blog Planned In Pencil and was thrilled when she emailed me about sharing it with all of you.

PJ shares that she loves old, hard sided vintage suitcases. I'm with her. But what to do with them? Especially the small, overnight case suitcases?

This little blue beauty is what PJ started with (can't you just see a chic Pan Am stewardess carting this around the airport?).

And in a fit of true creativity she realized it would be perfect...

As a craft organizer! Read all about the hot gluing, pocket making and organizing of this suitcase turned craft supplier holder on PJ's original post.

I love it! I think I might steal this idea to help keep my embroidery supplies organized! I a few of them could be functional AND adorable in the linen closet, keeping smaller items together and neat.

Now I want to hear about your upcycled ideas!

House Stalking: Cedar Contemporaries

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 13:44:00 +0000

It will surprise exactly five readers that I love and adore Mid-Century Modern homes. However, if we continue living in the Atlanta area there's very little chance I'll ever live in one. Atlanta has some fine examples of mid-century modern houses, but they are relatively rare and expensive.

Recently, though, I've become more and more charmed by shed-style contemporary houses. These houses are also called cedar contemporary or California contemporaries. Their exteriors boast odd rooflines and lots of windows, which leads to interiors with lofted ceilings and lots of light. Because of the emerging environmental ethos of the 1970s they also tend to be surrounded by trees and situated to give the residents views of the surrounding greenery. They were primarily built from the late sixties into the early eighties.

Most of my books about the history of the built environment don't really discuss this style of house. I think they are an important lynch-pin between the more modest ranches and split-levels of the fifties and sixties and the McMansion boom of the 1980s. They are larger than the typical ranch house (proof the middle class was demanding more space even as family size dwindled?) and far more experimental. They are certainly more modern looking than the McMansions (most of which borrow heavily from more traditional styles). They boast some of the things I love best about MCM houses (light, use of wood, openness without a huge amount of square footage) and my favorite furniture styles would work in them really well.

These houses aren't exactly beloved by home buyers. Many of them aren't aging well. They were sold as "maintenance" free, but in reality the cedar siding isn't holding up. The ones that have been painted look so much better.

Since they were ubiquitous in the late sixties/seventies/early eighties so there's plenty available in our local housing stock.

Here are a few from surrounding suburbs.

Original Condition Cedar Contemporary

Pictures from Trulia

This house has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, multiple decks, is in a good school school district...all for about $155,000.

I love the lines of the house, especially the windowed...quadrant thing. Lovely! I think a whole lot of either cream or dark gray paint would completely transform the exterior.

One of the three bathrooms. All of them look like they need some SERIOUS updating. (Also, maybe clean off your counters before taking pictures. Just a thought.)

Although I'm not crazy about the fake stone fireplace, I LOVE the high wood ceiling.

One of the things I love about this style of house is that many of them offer multiple decks and other outdoor spaces. This home has decks on different levels AND a screened in porch.

Lots of seventies neighborhoods preserved trees (instead of clear cutting the land, like newer subdivisions tend to do). Add in the following decades and you end up with lush greenery.

Partially Updated Cedar Contemporary

Photos From Trulia

This is another four bed/three bath in a good school district. This home has been painted, and it definitely looks the better for it!

The back of the house, sporting a screened in porch and a couple of different patio spaces.

A laundry room. Sigh. Have I mentioned how much I'd love a laundry room? Especially one big enough to leave an ironing board up? And one with natural lighting? I can't even.

The master bath. I could deal.

Another bad fake stone fireplace/awesome lofted wood ceiling living room with lots of natural light.

It was hard to get a feel for the rooms because the owner's furniture is large, and there's a lot of it. I have no idea if the rooms actually aren't as large as the first house, or if its just badly scaled furniture and all together to much STUFF eating up the space.

The Swiss Chalet-Style Contemporary

Photos From Trulia

I think of this as the Swiss Chalet various of shed contemporary. It's got the lots of windows/lofted roofline thing happening, but at the same time it's far more restrained overall. This house has three bedrooms, two baths, and is in one of the best school districts in the state.

The kitchen is huuuuuuge! And has been attacked with white paint. (The boob light needs to go!)

The back. Love the trees, light, level yard. The deck would probably need to be rebuilt.

This is my favorite fireplace out of the three. The owners have painted almost everything white, and I think it makes the house look very dramatic and modern. Replacing the carpet with laminate hardwood would make it look even more modern.

One of the bathrooms. The wallpaper would have to go! But look at the space!

Editing! I'm Editing!

I'm actually editing this post because I fell in love with another, different 1980s contemporary.

Photos From Redfin

The exterior doesn't have any of the exaggerated rooflines of the first two late twentieth century contemporaries. It's almost severe! And would look better painted.

This is the picture where I fell in love. THE LIGHT. OMG, THE LIGHT.

All that light, those amazing dramatic windows, AND built-ins? This makes me a terrible blogger, but I wouldn't change a thing. Okay, I'd probably pick a truer white. The carpet would have to go, probably in favor of laminate hardwoods. The rest of it, though? Nothing.

The den area, I think? More windows overlooking a wooded backyard.

I think this is the master. It has its own deck! You could put a little coffee station on the sliver of wall next to the sliding doors, go outside in the morning and drink your coffee with the birdies.

Also? I like the sliding doors for this house. Yes, yes sliding doors rank only slightly above vertical blinds in the most hated home design element category, but sometimes they just work in a space. Like here.

The Only DIY Green Cleaner Post You'll Ever Need

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 18:17:00 +0000

Green cleaners are expensive. I want my household products to be environmentally friendly, but I also need them to be affordable. So are there such things as ecologically sound, frugal cleaners?

Yes. And the good news is you can replace fabric softener, toilet bowl cleaner, bathroom cleaner, floor cleaner, oven cleaner, countertop cleaner, et cetera with four super cheap products.

These prices are from Amazon, because its easier that way! Two gallons of white vinegar are only $5.91;a one pound box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda is also around five dollars; Amazon is selling Bon ami scrubbing powder for an INSANE amount of money, but I get it for about seventy cents; and Hydrogen Peroxide, which Amazon is selling for about $2. You'll also need dish soap. Dish soap is the one thing I spend a little extra on, because we don't have a dishwasher, and I need something to make the process bearable. I love Method Dish Soap Pump Refill in Clementine. Each refill bag is about $5. I love how it smells, that it works, that it's a decent choice for the environment, and that it doesn't destroy my hands.

Some people make their own dish soap. I don't. I'm considering it, along with making laundry detergent. I'll keep you updated.

Laundry

Add about half a cup of white vinegar to the final rinse cycle of your wash. It removes ANY icky scents from your laundry, including mildew (J tends to put wet, disgusting dirty laundry in plastic bags (???) where they mildew). Vinegar slays even the grossest mildew stench. It also, somehow, makes towels more absorbent.

All Purpose Cleaner

Dilute vinegar with water, about half and half. Pour into spray bottle. That's all you need for a basic all purpose cleaner.

Now, I saw this pin on Pinterest (from this original source) about soaking citrus rinds in vinegar for a couple of weeks, then draining and using the vinegar as a cleaner.

I like this idea, but it was a little complicated for me. So I tried popping lemon peels straight into my spray bottle. It works! The vinegar is lemon scented, and it preserves the rind. When the vinegar/water solution runs low in my spray bottle I replace the citrus rinds.

Make Your Own Drano

Drano is FILLED with awful chemicals. Before resorting to such drastic measures, try Sandpaper and Glue's Stephanie's DIY Drano. It works on the same principle as your fifth grade volcano project. AND IT WORKS. I have ridiculously thick hair and old plumbing. I clog up drains with a quickness! This clears clogs quickly. Now I use it as a preventive measure about once a month to prevent clogs.

Oven Cleaner

When we moved in, our oven was disgusting. Absolutely gross. I googled around for a bit and landed on multiple ideas. Most of them involved ammonia or other heavy duty chemicals. I found this idea for using baking soda and vinegar from the Frugal Kiwi. However, in one of my old housekeeping manuals (everyone collects something strange, right?) I read about using steam.

So I put a large pan of water in the oven, turned it on 500 degrees, and let it steam up for awhile (don't let all the water steam out). Remove the pan. Use a scrub brush and scrub away. Then wipe down with a rag.

Next shake baking soda on the oven floor. Spray vinegar over the baking soda, and scrub again with your brush. Our ancient oven looks good as new!

Toilet Cleaner

I mentioned that for every day cleaning I pour a little white vinegar in the toilet bowl and scrub with the brush. Doing this a few times a week keeps your toilet nice and shiny clean.

Grout Cleaner

Mix up a paste of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. It CLEANS the grossest grout. I apply, go do something else, forget I'm cleaning the bathroom, J yells why is there stuff all over the bathroom, I remember I started cleaning the bathroom...

Rinse with REALLY, REALLY hot water. It helps remove any stuck on nonsense.

Vinyl Floor Cleaner

Fill a bucket with hot water, a few good squirts of dish soap, and a couple of tablespoons of either Bon Ami or baking soda. Rinse with regular water.

Tile Floor Cleaner

HOT water, 1/2 a cup of baking soda, 1/4 cup of hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup of vinegar. This is a green version of this pin.

Glass Cleaner

This is my favorite glass cleaning recipe. Mix a quarter cup of white vinegar with 1/2 a teaspoon of dish soap and water. It's a little sudsy, but leaves your glass sparkly clean.

Bathtub/Sink Cleaner

Mix up a paste of Bon Ami and dish soap. Apply to tub and scrub. This cleans the GROSSEST tubs. For regular cleaning, I use either my all purpose vinegar cleaner.

Soap Scum

Pour vinegar directly on the scum. Leave for a minute, then wipe away. The vinegar eats through the scum!

Metal Cleaning

This post on Apartment Therapy is full of simple, green, cheap ways to clean and polish all different sorts of metals.

General Tips

Hot water is your friend. Sometimes I actually boil water to use in cleaning.
Bon Ami is non-toxic and safe to use as a scrubber.
I have no experience with stone countertops, but here's a post with some ideas for making green cleaners for it.
Keep your cleaners where you use them! I keep a bottle of my all purpose cleaner in the kitchen AND in the bathroom. A mason jar holds straight vinegar for toilet cleaning right on the shelf above it.

Now I want to hear about YOUR cleaning recipes and ideas!

Go From Eating Out To Eating In...The Easy Way

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 19:15:00 +0000

Original Image From Here

Here's a true confession: we ate out a lot when I was growing up. The times my mom or dad cooked were more the exception than the rule. I carried on in this manner as an adult. Unlike my parents, I actually love cooking (thanks, grandmothers!). However, my cooking tended to be very involved affairs with various spice profiles and multiple pots.

Not sustainable. Especially after J and I married I needed to churn out inexpensive, budget friendly, tasty meals on the regular. We both really enjoy cooking, so for awhile every night was a culinary adventure.

This was also unsustainable. I read around on the internet on "how to eat cheaply" and "how to eat at home." I didn't find these ideas especially useful, either. These plans were usually extremely complicated, full of processed ingredients, and involved freezing complete meals. I didn't think this was workable either.

So here is how I went from eating out to eating in, and saving money along the way.

1. Avoid The Chicken Nugget Conundrum

Photo From Here

A friend recently commented that she and her husband need to save money and decided to cut out restaurants, but inevitably ended up grabbing fast food because they were exhausted and fast food is quick.

This is where I break away from most "save money on food" advice.

As you move from eating out (and grabbing take out) on a regular basis to eating in, you need things in your freezer that don't require forethought, a lot of time, or preparation.

You need to hit up the frozen food aisle. Yeah, I said it. At any given time our freezer is usually home to various frozen pizzas, chicken pot pies, and taquitos. Over in the pantry I keep a few cans of clam chowder.

Now this stuff can be ridiculously expensive. Never, ever pay full price. Friend the makers of your favorite frozen meals on Facebook; occasionally you'll score a coupon. Watch the frozen food aisle for sales and decide what your acceptable price is. I never pay more than a dollar for chicken pot pies, $4 for a big box of taquitos, and $5 for a large, specialty frozen pizza.

It might not be the healthiest choices EVER, but it's much better to spend $4 on a 20 count box of taquitos and add on $.50 of salsa than to buy dinner for both of us at Taco Bell, which would definitely clock in at over $10.

We also don't do this all the time. Maybe once a week.

By the way, rotisserie grocery store chickens can be a fantastic deal. I buy them at our local store for $5 and usually get at least three meals for both of us at out of it (sliced chicken, various chicken bits in a pasta dish or salad, and the carcass as the basis for chicken noodle soup).

2. Develop A Collection of Quick Recipes

Photo From Here

I love long simmered braises and stews. Those don't happen on a regular basis. If turning out dinner becomes an involved, hours long affair which results in fantastic food but multiple dirty pots...you are going to resume your first name basis relationship with the nice person at your favorite drive-thru with a quickness.

Create a collection (and record them somewhere easily accessible; I actually have a private blog where I keep all my recipes) of easy, quick dinners.

One of our favorites is a spinach salad with either boiled eggs (which I try to keep ready in the fridge) or sautéed chicken with sesame dressing. Delish. Another quick favorite is curried carrots and lentils (I sauté onions with curry powder, add chicken broth, add diced carrots and lentils, cook for 30 minutes). I adore eggs in purgatory , which is basically poached eggs in tomato sauce, which I eat with toast.

One pot meals are awesome. Orzo pasta can cook with the pasta toppings. Sauté tomatoes, onions, and mushrooms. Add in broth, add in orzo...and you have dinner.

Sandwich fixings (we both ate roast beef and cheddar sandwiches for dinner last night and were very happy) are also awesome for turning out quick meals AND bringing your lunch.

Any sort of "flat" sandwich also make for great dinners. I'm a big fan of bean and cheese quesadillas. Super cheap, super easy.

3. Decide On What's Convenient For You

Photo From Here

There is nothing I love better than a long simmered, homemade chicken stock. I wish I was the kind of person who always has some stashed away in her freezer. I'm not. So I have beef and chicken stock bases in my cabinet. I'm not going to pretend that dishes made with prepared broths and stocks are as good as those made with homemade stock; they aren't. But with most dishes the prepared stock is fine. It's a really rare dish that's going to be severely comprised by using commercial stock base.

Usually I cook up huge batches of dried beans, divide them up into bags, and freeze them. If I'm running low and know I'm not going to cook up another batch I'll buy canned beans. Canned beans are still a good deal. They can help make a salad, pop into a pasta dish, be part of a rice and beans dish, or go into a quesadilla or burrito.

Other "convenient" items I keep on hand are bread, tortillas, a couple of jars of pasta sauce, salsa, and lots of canned tomatoes. Sometimes I buy hummus.

(Stuff I never buy? Canned soup (other than clam chowder) because I think it tastes weird.)

The biggest thing here is to be realistic. I often think that I'll just grab a huge country ham, cook it, and we can make sandwiches off of it for months! In reality, I know that although deli ham isn't as good of a deal, it means we'll actually have sandwich fixings.

4. Don't Come Home From The Grocery Store And Decide You Have Nothing To Eat

Photo From Here

We've all been there. We've gone to the grocery store, spent lots of money, come home, put away bags and bags of groceries, looked in the fridge, and felt like there was nothing in there to actually eat.

I think this phenomena occurs because people shop for recipes instead of for food they actually eat. When I walk into the grocery store I rarely have specific recipes in mind (unless its for a special occaison). Instead I focus on the kinds of food we like to eat and zero in on sale items.

I buy different things at different times of the year. During the winter we eats lots of beans, potatoes, and cheap cuts of meat because we eat a lot of braised dishes and soups. During the spring and summer we eats lots of vegetable based dishes.

Later I'll post about exactly how I save money grocery shopping, but right now I just want you to focus on keeping your kitchen stocked with food you genuinely like to eat. If you eat lots of pasta dishes, make sure you keep pasta on hand.

What tips do you guys have for cutting out restaurants and take-out?

The 15/10/5/1 Cleaning Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 13:00:00 +0000

As I alluded to in this organizational ideas post I'm not naturally a well-organized person. I'm also not a person whoever thinks housecleaning sounds like an awesome way to pass the afternoon.

So after many years of trial and error I've come up with the 15/10/5/1 cleaning plan. Basically, I've broken down all chores into either a fifteen, ten, five, or one minute category. By devoting thirty minutes or so a day (or, uh, every few days) it allows you to keep your house clean without having to devote all day to the task. You don't even have to do the thirty minutes all at once! Usually I end up doing a few minutes here or there throughout the day.

Oh...true confession. This doesn't cover EVERY chore. Taking out the trash and scooping/changing the kitty litter isn't on this list (changing the litter is about a ten minute chore/scooping more like 5 minutes. Neither are more rarely done chores, like windows. This is just a simple overview of most basic chores.

15 Minutes

1. Wash dishes

I don't have a dishwasher (insert sad face here). I can wash up the daily dishes and pots in about fifteen minutes. I try to do this right after dinner; usually I do it when I let Emily out for the last time before bed.

2. Vacuum A Room

3. Attack Your Personal Monster

We all have one. Right now my personal monster is our spare room. It's such a disaster that the idea of spending the day on it is both horrifying and overwhelming. Instead I devote fifteen minutes every couple of days to it. Slowly I'm seeing the light at the end of tunnel! Other Personal Monsters might be your basement, closet, whatever is a mess you aren't quite sure what to do with.

4. Scrub shower

5. Fold laundry

The worst part of doing laundry...and yet the part you can do while watching Parks and Rec.

10 Minutes

1. Sort Laundry

We don't really have room for a complicated dirty laundry system. So we toss it all into a hamper in our bedroom closet. Once a week or so I sort it into dark/lights/handwash so that when I'm ready to do the wash it's all ready.

2. Change Sheets

I know lots of people only have one set per bed...I don't understand this. We have two sets, and I'd really like another set. That way I can strip the bed, toss the dirty sheets in the hamper, and put on clean sheets all at once. The clean sheets live in the linen closet.

3. Quick Mop

Ten minutes is about right to mop either our kitchen or bathroom.

4. Organize A Trouble Spot

Trouble spots are different from personal monsters. Trouble spots are oft used areas of your home which are magnets for clutter. Our trouble spots include the dining room table and the credenza/go chair landing strip. Mail, dog accouterments, jackets, and shoes are our big clutter monsters.

5. Blitz Clean

This is sort of related to organizing a trouble spot. Blitz cleaning occurs when a room is veering slightly out of control. Grab a basket. Anything that isn't trash/dishes that doesn't belong in the room goes in the basket. Hopefully you'll be able to deal with basket in the same ten minutes. By the way, as you are putting the stuff in the basket up look for repeat offenders or things that don't really have a dedicated home. Clutter happens when things don't have a spot.

5 Minutes

1. Make Bed

2. Polish sink

I never really considered doing this until I happened across Flylady's post describing shining your sink. Now I try and do it everyday-ish. It feels like a little reward (as bizarrely Donna Reedish as that sounds) for finishing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen.

3. Dust

It's enough time to knock out at least one major piece of furniture.

4. Clean Fridge

Anything lurking any there? Anyway, I bet it also needs a nice wipedown.

5. Wipe Down Stove/Counters

We have an old stove with burners and eyes and everything. Just wiping it down isn't sufficient. A few times a week I need to really clean the burners and even lift it up and clean out anything that's fallen underneath. While you have your cleaner (I use diluted white vinegar and lemon) out wipe down the countertops!

1 Minute

1. Scrub toilet

Yes, in one minute. I keep a bottle of white vinegar and a toilet brush in the bathroom. Every morning toss in some vinegar and give it a quick scrub. By doing it every day the toilet doesn't ever get really dirty.

2. Reset Sofa

In my world, this means fold up the throw blanket and return the pillows to their correct positions. Instantly makes the living room look neat.

3. Wipe Down Bathroom Mirror

This is something else I do every few days. I'm incapable of NOT splashing water all over the mirror as I get ready.

4. Start Laundry

Okay, if your laundry is sorted and ready to go actually tossing it in the wash takes about a minute. It takes roughly the same amount of time to toss it in the dryer later...and then putting clean laundry in your clean laundry basket to be folded when you have the time.

5. Clear Nightstand

My nightstand is a known trouble spot. So every morning (in theory, anyway) I gather up the debris of the night before and throw away/return to actual spot.

Now I want to know how YOU do it. How do you keep your house neat?

Share Your Story: Erin's Art Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 13:00:00 +0000

We are back, for part two of Erin's amazing art collection.

One thing that really caught my eye when Erin shared her Pinterest link with me back in the day was the originality of her collection. Yes, she has an amazing eye for finding amazing painting at the thrift store. She also susses out more original items to hang on her walls.

I love it! I think it's very easy to get hung up in the "important painting" idea when we are decorating rooms. Here are some other original ideas for inexpensive (but fabulous!) wall decorations. Some of these ideas are especially good for filling out gallery walls.

Erin: Two framed pages from a vintage 1940s children's book. The illustrations are by Pelagie Doane. This is hanging in my daughter's room.

Erin: I found a 1970s typography book at St. Vinny's for one dollar and framed the pages in matching frames from Walmart. I painted the mats turquoise to match all the turquoise in my house! These look great in the hallway.

Erin: Prints of 4 Ladies' Home Journal covers from the turn of the century. I have sort of an Edwardian theme in the guest bathroom (I guess inspired by Downton Abbey, ha ha.)

Erin: Vintage license plate. This is a fun way to spruce up an area, and you can usually get vintage plates for not too much money.

I love this idea! Prior to the seventies/eighties most states issued a new metal plate every year, so it might be possible to find years meaningful to you. I'd like to find a vintage license plate from every state we visit together and hang them in the hallway. Be very cool to add on to them from time to time!

Erin: I bought 6 vintage postcards from places that were meaningful to me and my husband (where he was born, where I was born, where we met, where we live, etc.) I framed them & hung them together to create this piece.

Yeah...I'm stealing this idea.

Erin: A hand-painted peacock cutting board. This was painted by a local Norwegian man. Is it creepy that I Googled him after I bought it? :-)

I always pull out my Nancy Drew skills after I buy something with a name on it.

Classic vintage silhouettes. I think these were probably mass produced in the mid-twentieth century.

Erin: Vintage rolling pin and a similar toy one hanging on the soffit in my kitchen. I thought they looked sweet together.

So that's a portion of Erin's amazing art collection. Do you have something you'd like to share? Email me!

What about you guys? What non-traditional things do you have hanging in your house?

Free Gift Cards!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 00:02:00 +0000

I am slammed with work, and I'm sorry about the spotty posting this last week! Tomorrow I'll share more Erin's amazing art collection and a cute project is on deck for Friday!

We are always looking for little ways to save money. One thing we do is save our change. We have a couple of different coin collectors; I talked about the white vase in the living room in my post on organization. There's also a Mason Jar in the bedroom and a small cup in the car.

For a long time we'd save our change for awhile (or until the vase was full), spend an evening rolling it, and then take it to the bank. Recently we discovered a better option!

Coinstar! They've been around forever. But I've always avoided them because I didn't want to pay the 10% charge. Then I learned Coinstar doesn't charge a fee if you get giftcards instead of cash.

I tried it out Monday. Just in our little vase we had right at forty dollars. I chose a Amazon gift card, and then ordered stuff we needed, like Emily's flea medicine and my favorite dish soap.

So, maybe everyone in the world already knows this, but I think this could be a great way to get "free" gift cards! (BTW, I have no relationship with Coinstar and just thought this was a great tip!)

What other little tips and tricks do y'all use to save money?