ssstaton's Profile

I'm in! That is a great result for a project you can make with your kids.

On the topic of oven cleanliness. . . I also pause to spend money on another kitchen gadget, but I also am someone who avoids using chemical cleaners in my home. Any ideas on how to keep the oven less greasy and messy without resorting to the use of oven cleaner?

I second sf julia's idea about putting down some throw rugs.

Also if they won't let you paint in interesting colors consider using fabric instead. Depending on their restrictions about holes in the wall, you could install those bookshelves that bracket to the wall and fill it up with interesting knick knacks. In a rental I think the key is to give people something interesting to look at to divert their gaze from the parts that
don't fit what you would choose.

And as and aside my husband and I rented a home with wood paneling in the living room and dining room. I almost backed out of the deal because of it but decided that the low rent made up for the bad taste. And after living in the house for a period of time I came to like it! I know, crazy! I would never install it in my own home, or buy a home with it, but in the winter especially it gave the place a warm cabin feel.
I think that's the trick to enjoying a rental is to just go with the crazy aspects of the place. Everyone knows you didn't install the cabinets, they won't hold it against you.

I really like this place. You can actually see the personality of who lives there. I think that is worth a lot more than how perfectly designed the place might be.

My 6 year old and 3 year old have been sharing a room since my youngest moved out of his crib. I keep expecting my daughter to ask to get her own room but she never has. In fact we have been talking about having a third child and my daughter requested that if another baby comes along she wants the baby to share their room as well!
For us sharing a room has been great. If you have a small home it is certainly worth giving it a try.

What a great room! I love how you mix and matched the chairs at the table. I also like that you used two beds at similar heights, your girls will have a blast bouncing from one to the other.

Joy and Snarly,
Thank you so much for your kind words!
In regards to your questions Snarly:
The dollhouse goes through phases of use. Sometimes I don't see them play with it for a week or more but then other times I will walk in on them playing with it for hours on end. If you are short on space you may want to think about getting a wooden child's table, velcro, and fabric. Put velcro on three sides of the table and then make panels of fabric with velcro on the top and then when the kids want to they can put up the "walls" and use it as a dollhouse but when not in use they still have a table to do art work on.
I am a complete easy bedding kind of gal. We use the fitted sheet with duvet on all of our beds. I can't even imagine trying to put a top sheet on the top bunk!
Hope that helps. Thanks again, you guys made my day!

My son is very sensitive to chemicals so I've been using all sorts of cleaning alternatives around our house. Some have worked quite well and some have not. The squeegee has been a very good product in our shower. Because mold grows on wet surfaces, if you wipe the whole thing down after each shower there really is no reason to use bleach to get rid of mildew/mold. If you feel that simply wiping it down isn't good enough you can always use a mild baking soda/water mix to scrub out the grout. But, since we are talking about green living, why use more products when all you really need to do is get rid of the mold maker. . .water.

Thanks for the heads up. Her stuff is so sweet!

Anne,
The best baby shower gift I given was a six month supply of diapers. I know that seems crazy but I can't tell you how fantastic it was to put off the cost of diapers for those first months of having a newborn.