Around the house tips and tricks

There are so many great ideas floating around on the internet that will serve to make your home more organized and useful.  Some of the ideas are so simple but they provide needed organization and more clear, defined spaces that make so much sense!

1.  This is a laundry room that seems small, but it is so cute and well done.  The space is very well utilized and I don't think I could have done it any better myself.  The baskets up top serve as storage for items that are not used often (that a boyfriend/husband need to retrieve) and the sliding cabinets provide needed drying storage for items that you can't put in the dryer.  I love the counter tops here too - nothing fancy, looks like plain laminate, but it surely serves a great purpose.  Love this space!

 2.  When we were selling our house, I always used to heat random things up on the stove to make the house smell pretty ... and it worked!  People always commented on how nice the house smelled, including our realtor!  There are so many different options, but here are a few.  All you have to do is put a few things together on the stove and let it simmer for a while, until the smells resinate through your home (make sure you always keep enough water in the pan so it doesn't burn - that will defeat the purpose of the whole thing!).  Then you just let the mixture cool and throw it in the garbage!  Easy as pie!  I'd love to hear your comments about what you have tried and how it worked!

Potpourri - 1 cut lemon, 1 cut apple, 1 cut orange, 3 cinnamon sticks, water to cover

Holiday Potpourri - 1 cut orange, 1 cut lemon, 1 bay leaf, 2 cinnamon sticks, handful of cloves, water

Spice Potpourri - 2c water, 1/2c sugar, 1c pineapple juice, 1c orange juice, 1 lemon, 4 cinnamon sticks, 1T cloves

Apple Cinnamon Potpourri - 2 cinnamon sticks, 1 cut apple

Lemon Basil - (my personal favorite!)  2 cut lemons, a handful of fresh/dried basil, water

Cider Pumpkin Potpourri - 1 can of pumpkin puree, 4 cinnamon sticks, a handful of cloves, 1 apple, 3 T vanilla, a pinch of nutmeg, apple cidar (I used 4 cups, but you could adjust it any way you want)

 3.  Another great idea.  I always struggle with how to organize my KitchenAid mixer and accessories.  I usually store them in the bowl, but there isn't really enough room to do that, so some end up scattered around the kitchen.  This is such a great idea and you could use Command hooks so you don't ruin the inside of the cabinets.

4. GENIOUS!  Plastic bags are always lose under our sink and it is hard to get them out.  This is a great, organized solution for garbage bag storage.  You could do this in a pantry or under the sink (for kitchen trash bags).  This would also be really useful in the garage for trash cans located there.