1) Add a colorful table runner or individual place mats on your table.

2) Invest in napkins and napkin ring holders. They dress up your table and make your kitchen table more welcoming and inviting.

3) Accesorize with candles. Candles create a warm glow, while adding fragrance to your home. Candles and candle holders make wonderful center piece settings for your table on the holidays. Get great holiday decorating candle ideas here!

Decorate Your Home For Christmas On A Budget

15 Stocking Stuffers Under $15

Here is how to deck the halls without breaking the bank:

Fill a simple serving tray or bowl with Christmas balls for a quick and easy coffee table holiday centerpiece.

Hang cards and ornaments from floral wire strung across the room.

Use string lights to make another “tree”.

Hang ornaments and simple sentiments on ribbons from your windows.

Get other decorating ideas here.

Do you have any good holiday decorating tips?

15 Stocking Stuffers Under $15

10 Christmas Gifts For Your Best Friend For Under $50

How to be a great host in a tiny apartment

DIY: Make your own bath salts

1) Try to position the sofa in the corner farthest away from the door and window.

2)  Make sure the sofa is placed in clear view of the door.

No money decorating for your living room

3) Avoid having too much space between the wall and sofa. The wall is essential for providing security and protection.

GO HERE FOR MORE

How to organize your entertainment unit’

1. Space Underneath Appliances or Keyboards: most of us just wipe down the counter or the desktop without actually moving this stuff and then you do and you discover that underneath that appliance are a ton of crumbs. While you’re at it you might want to take a sponge to the bottom of your appliances too before the dust turns sticky.

2. Dishwasher: it gets clean when you run it, right? Uh, not so much. Small bits of food may get stuck in crevices and around the door’s rubber gasket. A toothbrush can help you dislodge them; running the dishwasher on hot, empty except for a cup of vinegar or tang can help remove greasy grime, sanitize and remove any musty odours.

Top 10 Bathroom Spring Cleaning Tips

3. Walls: we spend a lot of time cleaning our floors but most of us never clean our walls, except maybe the tile in the bathroom. But they get dirty especially if, like us, you have a window or two that faces out to the street. Going at ‘em with the occasional feather duster should do the trick for most of the walls in your home but if you use spray products in the bathroom, you might want to wipe down the walls around your mirror where the excess lands.

4. Ceiling: see above. dust accumulates here as well as walls or floors. a swipe with a feather duster should do the trick if you take care of it regularly. Drop a feather duster into your vacuum’s long extension tube so you can reach your ceiling.

GET THE REST HERE

How To Clean Grout

There’s nothing like fresh flowers to add a personal touch to an apartment.I love to buy flowers every Friday for my apartment, but lately I find that my flowers are wilting before the weekend is over.  Here are some tips on how to revive wilted flowers from sohaute.com:

1. Trim the stems on a diagonal, preferably under running water. This gives the stems more surface to drink from.

2. Fill your vase with very warm (almost hot) water. If you have flower food, great – you can add that to the vase as well.

3. Place your flowers back in the vase then find yourself a spray bottle which you’ll fill with very cold water.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE

5 Yellow Summer Accessories For Your Home

DIY: Make Your Own Bath Salts

Keep Flat Surfaces Clutter-free

Papers, books, brochures and magazines tend to accumulate on flat surfaces all around the house, and the family room is no different. “You need a household information center, and the family room may be where that happens,” says Julie Morgenstern, author of Organizing from the Inside Out. In fact, the family room is often more cluttered because it’s a central gathering place in the house. A two drawer lateral file is Morgenstern’s ideal recommendation – on average she says that’s really how much paper it takes to run a home. If you don’t have the floor space, a stackable file cart will do.

Make a quick sweep of all flat surfaces by piling papers in a bin, then sorting and purging as necessary. Take a vow, and get your family to follow it, to put papers in files rather than on the coffee table.

Control Out-of-Control Cords

Until the world goes wireless, we’ll forever be stuck with tangled cables behind our entertainment centers. Fortunately, there are several options for taming cords in the family room. The most attractive is the slim Cableyoyo. It neatly coils up to six feet of cord and comes with an adhesive backing that sticks onto nearly any surface. A cable caddy usually sticks onto a desktop (or behind the TV console) and has a space for several cables to clamp into. Your cords will still dangle freely, however, so a cable zipper, which encloses all the cables in a tube, might be the best bet.

Click here for more tips.

Click here to find out how to make over your closet and your life.

Click here to find out how to organize your bathroom.

1) Play with your walls: Whether it’s wallpaper, stamp, or good ol’ paint, punch up your walls.

2) Add a piece of furniture: a small stool, an ottoman, a bench, a chest of drawers if you have the room.

3) High quality towels and lots of them: We buy bath sheets and hand towels, which we use for company and for our hair. Stacks of them if you have the space — a shelf above the door?, a basket of towels rolled up, hooks on the back of the door to hold them — somehow, a plethora of good, fluffy, matching towels in a bathroom makes it feel opulent.

4 budget-friendly bathroom updates

4) Keep it clean, make it neat: here’s the room where cleanliness really is next to godliness.

5) Candles: The good kind. And use them. Light them when you get home, take a bath or a shower by them. Somehow, a candle in the bathroom, even a flickering votive in a glass, makes your bathroom feel like something else.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE TIPS

Spa treatments you can do at home

Here are some tips on how to free up your counter space from ehow.com:

1) Get rid of appliances you never use or that aren’t working properly. Be honest, you’ll never get that old blender fixed, so you might as well toss it. Donate working items to charity.

2) Designate a space just for small kitchen appliances. There are several different places you can choose. Store small appliances in lower cabinets. These cabinets usually have more clearance for larger items and can take the weight of heavier appliances. Leave the upper cabinets for food and dishes that are used more frequently than appliances.

How to make a small kitchen look bigger

3) Organize small kitchen appliances in cabinets according to how frequently they are used. Some items, like slow cookers, waffle makers, sandwich presses and juicers, are not used that often and can go in the back of the cabinet.

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How to entertain on the fly

Here are some tips that could work applied to a studio apartment where your bedroom is your living room (and dining room and office) from houseandgarden.uk.com:

• Multiple Uses: Desks do double duty as dressing tables (and dining tables) and Ottomans provide storage, a place to sit and a place to set things out.

• Divide and ConquerDivide and ‘zone’ the space with shelves (like ) and credenzas. If you stick with light colors and keep the shelves organized you can cordon off some private space and keep your office from invading your bed.

5 ways to spring forward in your home.

• Think Scale: the same giant living room furniture might not fit into a studio, you may need to downsize to a loveseat and a footstool instead of a coffeetable, or 2 armchairs and a side table instead of a sofa.

• Focus: Try arranging around a focal point, either putting your bed front and center or with shelving that covers one wall with all the furniture oriented around that. If you’re lucky enough to have a fireplace use that as a focal point, do not use your heater as one.

• Lighting: Dimmer everything. Illuminate shelving and underneath your cabinets with interior lights or the small stick on lights from Ikea. This will make the space feel larger and more open at night. For a luxurious look (and a focal point!) use a chandelier or pendant light above the bed (or table) for overhead lighting and then add lamps around the room for tasks.

Upgrade your bedroom without spending money.

• Bonus Tip: This tip comes from our own experience: if there is a way to not have everything tucked around the side of the room, hugging the walls, do it, it will make it feel more spacious. For example if you can get into bed from either side of the bed or if your desk/table can float in the center of the room, this will give the illusion of more space. Of course if you doing this means you have to climb over other furniture, use common sense!

10 kitchen improvements for renters.

Here are some tips on how to make your own headboard in 4 simple steps from squidoo.com:

What you need:

* A 1/4 Plywood Base
* Foam
* Padding/Wadding/Fiber Fill

* Fabric

You Will Need These Tools

* Jigsaw
* Pencil/Marker
* Scissors / Stanley Knife

* Staple Gun
* Tape Measure

1) Measure your bed that you are making the headboard for
Cut out the desired shape of your headboard out of the plywood. There are many shapes you can design, it really just depends on how you want your headboard to look.

2) Cut out the foam to go on your headboard and use an adhesive to glue it in place. I usually lay the foam on top of the headboard and use a carving knife to shear the excess material away till I achieve the shape I want. This bit can be quite time consuming but well worth doing well to get that solid look and feel at the end result.

How to create a peaceful bedroom retreat.

3) Cover the headboard with the padding or wadding and again glue in place. This is fairly simple, what you want to aim to do is give an EVEN covering of wadding so the headboard is proportionally stuffed.

Stretch the fabric over the headboard making sure it is tight and tac/glue/nail in to position on the back.

Depending on how much love you give it, will directly determine the end result. Spend time, have patience and measure twice cut once.

How to choose wall color for the bedroom.

FANTASY FRIDAY: Mother Of Pearl Haze Ring

FANTASY FRIDAY: Wall Mounted Barbecue

Control the clutter - Stash your beauty products in the medicine cabinet, under the vanity or in a linen closet. Get rid of the unused lipsticks and eyeshadows that are just taking up space.

Introduce Color- Add inexpensive vibrant towels and area rugs.

Cookie-Cutter Mirror? Swap it out for a new one or add a frame to your existing one.

Accessories - Roll your bath towels tightly and place them in a round basket. Buy an inexpensive a shower curtain, and new shower curtain rings. Add some art on a floating shelf.

Spa treatments you can do at home

DIY: Make your own bath salts

$350 at neimanmarcus.com

FANTASY FRIDAY: Turquoise Roberto Cavalli Slingbacks

FANTASY FRIDAY: Python Gym Bag

* If you have the space, corral towels in a basket (roll them up) or do what we do and hang extra towels on hooks on the back of your bathroom door.

* Put cleaning supplies in a plastic bin to keep them all together. In our bathroom we keep a shower spray, toilet bowl cleaner, windex and a mild scrub. This way they’re in easy reach so that it’s not hard to do a little bit every day – wipe down the sink after use, spray the shower, brush out the toilet — and keep the mess at bay.

* Once a month, go through everything and toss any outdated medicines or products that are old or unused.

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Click here to find out how to fake a clean house.

Need more organizational tips, click here to find out how to organize your makeup.

Every Day

* Wipe down the sink after doing the dishes or loading the dishwasher (30 seconds).
* Wipe down the stove top (one minute).
* Wipe down the counters (one minute).
* Sweep, Swiffer, or vacuum the floor (two minutes).

GET MORE HERE

Click here to find out how to store your pots and pans.

Short on storage space? Click here to find some simple solutions.

Curtain Call

Fake a high ceiling with strategically placed window treatments. Make a room seem taller by installing the curtain rod above the window frame. Curtains should graze the bottom of the window sill or the floor.

Organize your entertainment unit

Pile On the Pillows

Nothing is cozier than a pile of pillows. Gather pillows from around the room or house and arrange them on one sofa to add comfort and color. Choose pillows that have different patterns in complementary colors for a perfectly mismatched look.

Mirror, Mirror

Skip the drama of a hammer and nails and prop framed mirrors against a wall. A large mirror serves many functions in a room. With a beautiful frame it becomes impactful art. When angled against the wall, it tricks the mind into thinking the ceiling line is even higher than it is. When it reflects light, it brightens the space and provides the illusion of an extra window.

Tips courtesy of betterhomesandgarden.com

DIY: How to make panel curtains

Here are 4 easy ways to decorate your bedroom:

1) Switch to sheer curtains. If your bedroom windows are still sporting those heavy winter curtains, try switching them out for a light sheer curtains.

2) Bring in some fresh flowers. Fresh flowers brings new energy into the air.

3 easy steps on how to make a bed.

3) Candles. Invest in candles that arouses the senses: try a beachy scent or a light floral scent.

4) Repaint your headboard. If your headboard is a dark wood, lighten it up by painting if a light creamy color. The lighter color will compliment your summer bedding.

4 ways to add color to your bedroom

Add Storage

1. Hang a pot rack or pegboard. Take storage into your own hands. Hanging a pot rack or pegboard is usually well within the scope of renters’ rights, and they can open up much more storage in the kitchen.

2. Hang a shelf or wall storage. Again, like the pot rack, shelves and other wall storage systems are removable and hung easily. You don’t have to do major surgery to your kitchen in order to hang shelves like Dana’s or a storage system like Kyle’s. Get some help, and patch any screw holes when you move out. The work and small expense is worth the extra storage for kitchen tools and accessories. If you paint the shelves you can also have a major color accent in the kitchen.

3. Bring in new furniture. Some kitchens are big enough, but bare. There was very little counter space in my old eat-in kitchen, so I brought in a small kitchen cart for the microwave, cookbooks, and other extras. This kitchen island is inexpensive and useful in an open kitchen. Also consider a tall storage unit like the one in this bright orange kitchen. Also consider more unusual furniture, like a dresser for baking trays and table linens or a card catalog for wine and silverware!

For more ideas go here.

How To Store Your Pots & Pans

Update your kitchen with color

The sweeping curves and lush, button-tufted padding of classic Chesterfield styling lend this sofa dramatic style and irresistible comfort. Exposed, turned legs keep the look light and elegant.

Now available in 14 performance fabrics. Choose from Faux Suede in Grade C and Performance Textured Weave, Performance Velvet and Performance Linen in Grade E.

$3,200.00 – $6,950.00 at wshome.com

FANTASY FRIDAY: Dior Miniaudiere Palette

FANTASY FRIDAY: Theory Eliston Leather Jacket

1) Cleaning: Start by giving this room a good scrubbing. Walls, tiles, bathtub, toilet are all vastly improved by a good wash

2) Paint: Color in your bathroom can make all the difference. Start with the colors in your tiles and work from there.  The best colors are either white or something that complements the tiles. Choose a colour with warmth in it.

TOP 9 MUST-SEE BLACK FILMS

3) Change out the light fixtures: Cover a bare bulb with a shade, swap out a ceiling mounted fixture with a chandelier, bring in a table lamp, consider a night light to take evening baths by and don’t forget the candles, a nice touch for night or for parties.

How to control clutter in your bathroom

Want more tips? Click here for more.

Top 9 Black Reality TV Personalities

Spa treatments you can do at home

Take a look at some of our favorite bathrooms on the net:

Here are some inexpensive bright and cheery accessories to update your kitchen this summer:

5 Yellow Summer Accessories For Your Home

Clean Your Clutter In Just 5 Minutes

1) Acrylic Drink Dispenser, $49-$69 at potterybarn.com

2) Picnic striped paper plates, $2.95-$4.-95 at crateandbarrel.com

3) Twist melamine serveware, $11.00 at westelm.com

4) Hammered acrylic drinkware, starting at $11.00 at westelm.com

5) Light-Up Margarita Glasses, Set of 4 $29.99 at after5catalog.com

6) Outdoor rope lights , 150 ft $72.00 at 1000bulbs.com

7) Galvanized Oval Serving Tray, $17.99 at organize.com

1) Keep it small. A small apartment living room can easily be overwhelmed by excessively large furniture. If you do have a large piece of furniture, either keep it from dominating the room by adding colorful or unusual accent pieces, or give in and let the large item be the focal point.

2) Use neutral colors. Use neutral colors for your walls, floors and furniture, add pops of color with accent pillows and accessories.

How to pick a rug for your living room

3) Add mirrors. Mirrors open up space in a room and make it appear larger. Mirrors add light to a room,by making the room appear more expansive and inviting.

Decorate your living room with red

Here are some tips on how to motivate yourself to clean your home:

1) Turn on your radio to the music of your choice. Nothing motivates me more than music, I’m singing at the top of my lungs, using my broom as my microphone and before you know it, I’m on to the next room.

2) Get rid of clutter. Even if you concentrate on a small space or area, the feeling of watching unwanted items being removed from your home is invigorating and freeing.

7 ways to reuse household items.

3) Rearrange a Room. Once I start cleaning, I tend to move things around to give my space a new look. Changing up a room often gives you more motivation to keep it clean and uncluttered.

4) Try a new cleaning product. I like trying out new products, so when something new comes along use that as an opportunity to discover something new that can lighten your work load.

5) Watch home improvement shows.  I’m addicted to HGTV, and when I watch my favorites shows, it motivates me to get up and start cleaning and rearranging.

Top 5 low light house plants.

Choose Your Container

Almost anything can be used for container gardening but some perform better than others. You can grow lettuce in shallow baking pans, tomatoes in bushel baskets or large pots. Glazed ceramic pots are nice but not necessary. Just be careful that you don’t choose a container that previously held toxic substances.

Tip: Make sure it will hold a fully grown plant.

The lazy girl’s guide to spring cleaning.

Where Do I put It?

In general, plan for five hours of sunlight. Some need more, some less but it’s a good place to start. The beauty of container gardening is that you can place it anywhere and you can move it if you need to.

Tip: Heavier containers placed on rolling trollies provide the most convenience in case of bad weather.

The Soil

Did you know there are two types of soil available for container gardening? Garden centers sell a soil-less mix especially for small space gardening. It holds moisture and nutrients better than natural soils and also is weed and bacteria free. Soils from your yard isn’t usually used because it’s too heavy.

Click here for more tips.

5 ways to spring forward in your home.

1. Install wall-mounted shelves above other furniture, and shelves above doorways.

2. If you don’t love it or need it, get rid of it.

3. Remove doors for an open layout. Hang up curtains where needed for privacy.

4.  Use the “One In, One Out” strategy.

5.  Buy infrequently and with great care. Focus on high-quality and long-lasting pieces, even if you have to save up for them. Make sure they fit your space perfectly.

6.  Buy a bed with storage capabilities, either drawers underneath or a one you can jack up or loft.

7.  Use a pot rack.

8.  Get rid of your microwave. Use the oven or stove top instead.

9.  Hang cup hooks of different sizes everywhere. They’re inexpensive, don’t take up a ton of space, and keep things off the counters and floor.

10.  Install vertical storage and built-ins.

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No-Money Decorating For Your Living Room

5 Reasons It’s Better To Rent Than Own

If you have five minutes…

* Chuck crummy sponges and outdated cleaning products lingering in your kitchen; clear old leftovers out of the fridge and pitch any expired foods found in the pantry.

* Do a TV-room makeover. During TV commercials, quickly tidy up the room you’re in. Gather all the magazines, newspapers, and bits of trash and put them in the garbage. Straighten pillows and refold throws. Organize your work space. On the next program break, you can even give the den a quick vacuum.

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8 Places We Forget To Clean

5 Ways To Motivate Yourself To Clean

Here’s what went down:

It began when Bobbi and three male friends were in a Honda pulling out of a subdivision. They were spotted by Bobbi’s ex-boyfriend Max Lomas, who was in another car with Nicholas Gordon, the adopted son of Whitney Houston. The Honda came to a stop at a red light, and the front-seat passenger Justin Walls claimed that Lomas approached the vehicle “and tried to punch him in the face while they were waiting on the traffic light to turn green,” according to the police report. Soon both cars pulled into a local Chevron station – and all hell broke loose!

Whitney Houston’s Wild Daughter Bobbi Kristina Photographed With Gun

Bobbi Kristina & Montana Fishburne Are BFF’s, Whitney Is Not Happy

A “friend” of the family reports Whitney “was horrified when she found out her daugh­ter was in the middle of the drunken brawl. It absolutely terrified her that a gun was involved and Bobbi could have been shot by accident. Whit­ney shipped her daughter to Los Angeles just days later to get her away from the bad influences.”

Someone please help this child! Clearly there needs to be some sort of intervention.

Whitney Houston Sending Bobbi Kristina To Rehab [RUMOR]

Bobby Brown Denies Daughter Bobbi Kristina’s Cocaine Use [VIDEO]

Make it comfortable. Even if you like modern, minimal design, try to add those elements of comfort to the room. Whether it be with extra comforter tucked away or a nice rug underfoot, bedrooms were made for lounging.

Sheets – Choose high thread count Egyptian cotton sheets for the most luxurious feel. It’s worth spending a little bit of money here for the best quality. Egyptian cotton gets softer with washing and wear, but can fade a bit.

4 steps to a sexy bedroom

Pillows – Choose whatever kind of pillows you are most comfortable with, but have lots of them in different shapes and sizes. Not only does this look cozy, it’s comfortable too. I like a variety of pillows – foam, synthetic and down to mix it up a bit. Maybe a bolster or two for added texture and comfort.

At luxury hotels, a set of plush or thick and cozy robes are often waiting in the closet for guests to enjoy during their visit, or purchase and take home. Invest in a great hotel or spa style robe or some really soft and cozy lounge wear to enjoy at home.

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Take a look at some of our favorite trendy bedrooms: