My husband and I take our flower planting tradition quite seriously each year. On the first day of Spring, we spend a fortune on colorful flowers and pray for weeks of warm (no-frost) weather! Here's how to find the best day to plant Spring flowers where you live -- so you're guaranteed that frost won't damage your plants.
Use these tips to clean, disinfect, and remove mold, mildew, bacteria, germs, soap scum... like a pro! A list of all the best cleaning products for the kitchen sink, bathroom sink, bathtub, bath mats, refrigerator, chrome, mirrors, appliances, carpet, upholstery, glass, wood trim, baseboards, cabinets, hardwood floors, vinyl flooring, fingerprints, painted walls, scuff marks, crayon marks, stovetop, stainless steel, and polishing the furniture.
Without question, the one part of your house that gets beat up every single day is your floor! Shoes, boots, heels, and cleats are just a few of the menaces that torture your flooring. Moving chairs and other furniture also add their fair share of damage. When you consider these factors, combined with damage from moisture getting on the floors from spills, stains, rain, mud, and snow days... eventually you're going to be faced with replacing your old flooring. But what type of flooring should you put down? As a flooring installer, I have some thoughts about luxury vinyl flooring including -- 1) How durable, waterproof, and scratch-proof vinyl tile and vinyl plank flooring is, 2) How to install luxury vinyl as a DIY project, 3) How to clean vinyl plank flooring, and 4) How vinyl tile & plank flooring compare to natural stone and wood flooring.
You know what a dirty bathtub ring looks like... Now imagine what that soap scum buildup is doing inside the jet plumbing of your bathroom jetted tub! Sure, you can clean the surface of the tub itself. But once you start the air jets, all kinds of nasty looking black specks will come floating to the surface if you don't clean the jets, the nozzles, and the interior plumbing system too. (I know because it happened to me.) Those pipes behind your soaking tub with jets quickly become contaminated with infectious bacteria -- some you can see, and some you can't. Fortunately, cleaning the inside of your air tub's pipes, jets, and nozzles is really easy! The hardest part is taking the time to do it on a regular basis -- to prevent biofilm (nasty residue that forms around bacteria in your plumbing lines) from building up in the jets. Here's how to properly clean a jetted tub and remove biofilm yourself in just a few quick steps. See how to make your own jetted tub cleaner and ones that are available in stores.
Honestly, I've never been diligent about using reusable shopping bags -- because most are just too small. And you still have to carry a ton of bags from the shopping cart to your car... and then from your car to your kitchen. But since I've had these 4 large Lotus Trolley Bags, I use them all the time! Grocery shopping has never been easier. Here's why I like the Lotus reusable shopping cart bags so much and think you will too!
Prefer using a DIY organizer rather than buying a product or gadget that does the same thing? These are some of the best ideas I've seen for getting organized without spending a dime! See my personal recommendations before trying each of these DIY organization ideas. These are the best repurposing tips to help you get organized... for FREE!
Planting a new tree in your yard? You can save money by doing the tree planting yourself... it's easy! (I know because I just planted a new elm tree in my backyard myself.) See how to plant a tree step by step -- in just 4 steps!
Heard warnings about the downsides of using fabric softener and dryer sheets? There are so many opinions out there about whether or not you should use fabric softener. You might've heard it can stain your clothes, start a fire, cause buildup in your washer & dryer, scare away mice, ruin sportswear, soften hard water, and cause acne -- among other things. It's time to sort out the facts from the myths about fabric softeners and dryer sheets!
Water won't drain from your dishwasher? There are 2 reasons for this: 1) Food is blocking the drain basket in the dishwasher tub. 2) Food is clogging the drain hose under the sink. See how I fixed my dishwasher myself... and you can too! Here's how to fix a dishwasher that won't drain water.
It can be difficult to outwit a smart dog that is determined to get into the garbage one way or another. These are the best dog proof trash cans (including DIY dog proof garbage cans!) and tips for keeping your dog out of the trash once and for all!
