Detox

Don't forget to check out the "Home Detox Tip of the Day!" (will probably be more like tip of the every other day or so) on the side bar of this blog.  It comes from a great resource, and are very small basic tips that can really make a big impact on the indoor air quality of your home.

Living in trash...Literally

Well, sort of literally.  This is an older story, but one that has stuck with me.  Do you think you could live with your trash for one entire year?


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Hopefully one day I can get to the point to where I could live with my trash for a year if I wanted to.  What a strange / gross thing to work towards, but I think you get my drift.

It Suites Me Fine

I needed to jazz up the upstairs bedroom with a little furniture.  The only problem is to get to the upstairs bedroom you have to go up a beautiful old wooden spiral staircase.  Wonderful aesthetically, not so wonderful in terms of getting up furniture.  The best option is to find furniture that can be assembled up there.  So I went to the thrift store for a little inspiration and found one of those old hard plastic suitcases, very similar to this:

I painted some pre made legs from Home Depot to match, screwed them in with my electric screwdriver, painted a fun little surprise on the top, and voila!

Click the read more button for even more fabulous suitcase inspiration.

I am Flor'ed

Carpet tile is fantastic. Many options come in recycled / recyclable content, it does not use nearly as much waste as your average 12 foot wide rolled carpet, it is sleek and sophisticated, and if something dreadful (red wine stain) ever happens you can just pop up that tile and replace with a fresh new one.  And if you act fast you can get a discount on certain items at FLOR.com!  They have some incredible bold patterns, as well as some good basic solid patterns and textures.  I'll share some pictures of the carpet tile we installed (so easy) in our upstairs bedroom soon!

A babylon at Barbizon

I just read the most intriguing article in Vanity Fair about the Barbizon Hotel located in Manhattan NYC.

This hotel was built in 1927, and was in its prime from the 1940's to the 60's.  It acted as a charm school / housing unit to the most talented and beautiful women of its time.  Women who would go on to be famous actresses, writers, models, designers, etc.  Joan Crawford, Grace Kelly, Liza Minelli, Cloris Leachman, Betsy Johnson, even the "unsinkable" Molly Brown walked the marble floors of the Barbizon.  And of course NO men were allowed above the first floor lobby.  Not to say they didn't try.  What respectable gal ever had a fella up to her room anyway?

This picture (including Rita Hayworth in black) shows some the women "working out" at the Barbizon.

Who works out in such fabulous heels?  Well the Barbizon girls of course.

The Barbizon had a renovation in 2002, and yet another renovation more recently to turn it into condos.  I'm sure the interior of the building is quite different from what it once was.  The rooms were originally extrememely small and were not allowed any electrical appliances.  At least the exterior kept it's Romanesque / Gothic / Moorish style integrity.

It is so wonderful that we can continue to use beautiful historic buildings that bring such a richness to our American culture.  There are folks out there working hard to save these old buildings because beleive it or not there are people who would rather tear them down only to construct a brand new one on top of it, or even (gasp!) a parking lot.  Why waste new resources when we can work with the beautiful ones we already have?  If this inspires you, you should check out your local historic preservation group (like Memphis Heritage) and find a way to get involved!

Impromptu Hair Flair

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend my very lovely grandmother-in-law's retirement party. Feeling like I should make myself a little extra fancy for the occasion, I decided to do some impromptu hair flair. Seriously took me about 20 min.

Want to learn how???

Upcydown...New and Improved With More Earth Saving Power!!!

I'm back with a vengeance after a break that was much to long.

This blog is new and improved just like cloth diapers!  My child will certainly be using these.  They aren't the cloth squares of yesteryear (even though our parents and grandparents got along just fine with those, too).  They come in all natural fibers that are super soft to baby's skin, don't contain chemicals, they have fitted velcro or snaps, end up being cheaper than disposable, are very easy to clean, and if you needed any more reasons...you'll help take away the millions of poopie diapers that fill our landfills every year!

You can get them in all kinds of fun colors and patterns too!  Lets take a moment to ooohhh and ahhh over these sweet little baby bums.