Your Home, Your Haven

You don't have to spend a mint to have a wonderful, comfortable, inviting home.  Your home should be a place that brings you peace and happiness.  It should be inspired by the needs of your family and the amenities that serve your values.  Think about the homes you've visited that you enjoyed the most.  In almost all cases, I can virtually guarantee those homes weren't the ones with the latest gadgets and rooms full of brand new furniture.  They were, most likely, homes where you felt nurtured and welcome.  A place where you could have a nice time and felt really comfortable.

When I think of my favorite homes, I always think of my grandparents' house.  Their furniture was an eclectic mix of furniture acquired from a variety of sources ranging from family heirlooms to garage sale finds.  The kitchen table was ancient and most of their dishes didn't match.  The beds were covered with handmade quilts, and the floors with older braided rugs over hardwood floors.  It was always neat and tidy and seemed to always smell of some scrumptious baked good my grandmother had in the oven.  A vase of freshly cut flowers could be found on the kitchen table in the summertime.  When my brother and I would spend the night with them, it was absolutely delightful to snuggle down in the freshly laundered sheets that had been hung out to dry in warm summer breeze.  Even though they didn't have significant financial resources, they took pride in their house, keeping it spotlessly clean and well-maintained.  It was a home full of love and joy.  It was the perfect home, one in which visitors were always welcome and very, very comfortable.  It was a home that has always inspired me.

Following is a list of ideas to make your home the best it can be no matter where you live or what your resources.

MINIMIZE CLUTTER.  We all have different levels of comfort when it comes to clutter.  That said, a "busy" or highly cluttered environment has been noted to create negative stress for most people.  Space that is open and easy to move about tends to be much more relaxing.  Do a quick walk through of your home.  What do you see?  Piles of paper?  Shoes and coats tossed about?  Start with one room and pick up or put away the things that are cluttering that room.  Take a look at your knick knacks or collections.  Consider leaving out only a few things at a time for a less distracting area.  Not only will your space be less busy, you'll have less to clean around making housecleaning a snap.

KEEP IT CLEAN.  There are a plethora of excellent, homemade cleaners that making keeping your home clean not only easy, but also inexpensive.  Clean your windows with a vinegar and water solution.  Invest in a few microfiber cloths.  They are awesome for dusting without need of furniture polish, for cleaning windows, and for polishing bathroom counters. (Just remember not to use any type of softener other than vinegar when you launder them or they will use their ability clean well and will cause streaking.)   Toss a cup of vinegar in your toilet overnight and swish it clean the next morning.  Do those dishes as soon as you finish a meal and fold the laundry after every load.  Remember the adage, "If you clean up a little mess, you'll never have any big messes to deal with."  Take pride in your environment.

MAKE IT SMELL GOOD.  You don't have to use costly air fresheners to achieve this.  Eliminate odors in your carpet with a light sprinkling of baking soda, let sit for a few hours, and then vacuum.  Open the windows in the summertime.  Bring in a few pine boughs and make a table arrangement.  Cut some fresh lilacs and put them in a pretty vase.  Bake some cookies. 

GET ORGANIZED.  This is along the same lines as minimizing clutter, but takes it one step further.  Take some time to organize your closets, drawers, and cabinets so you are easily able to find what you need when you need it.  It's much easier and less stressful to cook a meal if you know exactly where the bowl, pan, or utensil you need is located without having to search through every drawer.  Same with your food storage.  Put all of your spices together, baking items together, canned goods together.  Not only will you know where to find something, your preparation time will be enhanced, and you'll minimize the risk of purchasing an item you already have on hand.

MAINTAIN YOUR HOME.  Change the furnace filters.  Address small repairs immediately.  Do a yearly energy audit.  Keep your gutters and downspouts free of debris. 

FINALLY, DO NOT WORRY THAT YOU DON'T HAVE SOMETHING SOMEONE ELSE HAS.  If your home is clean, tidy, comfortable, and a place that makes you happy, does it really matter that you don't have matching sheets, comforter, shams,  and bedskirt?  (I actually love nothing more than cuddling up on my well worn, and often laundered, comforter snuggling up with the family dog every evening.  Not sure I'd feel quite so comfortable if I had expensive and perfect bedclothes.  I'd be hardpressed to allow humans to touch such things let alone the family dog!!)

CONCLUSION:  Bottom line, it is not possessions that make a house a home.  It's the people who live there.  Get to know your values, your needs, and what makes you the most happy and comfortable.  Once you figure this out, you'll have the home of YOUR dreams.

The Power of Old English Scratch Cover Oil

In keeping with one facet of the frugal creed, that facet being repair or restore, our family likes to keep our furniture and cabinets looking fresh and new with Old English Scratch Cover.   I actually love this chore because this product is inexpensive, easy to use, and can make furniture and cabinets look almost brand new in no time.  We use it routinely on our kitchen cabinets, living room, dining room, and bedroom furniture.  My favorite use?  I love, love, love cleaning up any wooden garage sale or thrift store finds with this oil since it magically restores a tired, scratched up piece to next to new condition. I've used it on a well built, but very dirty and slightly scratched, bookcase found cast along the side of the road.  The transformation was miraculous.  The piece is absolutely gorgeous!  The best part?  This product is inexpensive and a snap to use. 

Since seeing is believing, I thought it would be fun to show you the before and after of a wooden medicine cabinet I polished up recently.

Here's the "before" picture of the bathroom cabinet I treated.  So you can get a better idea of the condition of the wood prior to my using the polish, I took a closeup photo of the bottom shelves.

 The white areas are little scratched areas in the wood.  Other than these worn areas this cabinet is in excellent condition.

TIME TO POLISH:  I broke out my trusty bottle of Old English Scratch Cover for dark wood and poured a small amount to a paper towel. (Note, you need to be very careful not to get this solution on your clothing or carpet because it will stain.)  Next, I applied the oiled paper towel to the cabinet, using circular movements to work the oil down into the scratches. 

This is a side-by-side comparison.  The left side is done and the right side was not yet complete.  See the difference?

Here's another before.

And after.  Amazing, isn't it?MOVING ON: I then applied a liberal amount to the rest of the cabinet.  When I was all done, I simply tossed the paper towel into the trash (do not flush this!) and thoroughly washed my hands.  After allowing the oil to sit for a few minutes, I took a clean, soft cloth (aka old white T-shirt gleaned from the rag box in the garage for just such a purpose!) and buffed the remaining oil off of the cabinet.  I continued to buff the cabinet until it developed a nice shine.  Truly, this cabinet looks almost new, and this whole process took just about 5 minutes total to complete. 

WHERE TO FIND THIS PRODUCT:  Old English products are available at stores like Target, WalMart, Lowe's, etc.  You can also buy it online.  It runs anywhere from $4.79 to $5.99 depending on where it's purchased.  Since there are coupons for this product (check the Sunday newspapers and the Old English website), I usually only purchase when it is on sale and I have a coupon.  Using these techniques, I normally never pay more than $3.75 for an 8 oz. bottle.

Here's the link to the manufacturer for more information and coupons:

http://www.oldenglishpolish.com/sf2_scratch.shtml

And, here's another link to Amazon.com.  This one provides further testimonies to the magic of this product. 

http://www.amazon.com/Old-English%C2%AE-Furniture-Polish-Scratch/dp/B000PECDCE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1290819223&sr=1-3

Good luck and happy polishing!