A good pre-winter fireplace clean is worth doing, but there’s a big difference between clearing old ashes out of the firebox and making sure your chimney is safe for a fire. You can take care of the accessible, cold surfaces yourself. The flue, hidden damage, and gas components need a qualified professional. My advice is
Before You Light Your Fireplace This Fall, There’s One Check You Shouldn’t Skip Read More »
Laundry bluing is an old-fashioned way to make yellowing white clothes and linens look brighter without reaching for chlorine bleach. It sounds rather ridiculous to add blue to white laundry, but there’s a good reason generations of households did exactly that. A tiny amount of blue counteracts the yellow tones that make otherwise clean fabrics
The Old Laundry Trick That Makes Yellowing Whites Look Brighter Without Bleach Read More »
Your vinegar trap can be working perfectly and you can still have fruit flies. The vinegar catches the flying adults, but eggs and larvae may already be developing in a soft tomato, a sticky recycling can, or the wet residue at the bottom of your trash bin. Until you remove the places where they breed,
Why Fruit Flies Keep Coming Back Even When Your Vinegar Trap Works Read More »
A washer-clean cycle can leave a front-loading machine smelling musty because the drum isn’t the only place where damp residue collects. The rubber door seal has folds that catch water and lint, detergent can build up around the dispenser, and some machines have a pump filter that needs its own maintenance. Running the same hot
Why Your Front-Loading Washer Still Smells After a Clean Cycle Read More »
Pyrex Homestead is one of those vintage patterns that can be easy to walk past if you’re looking for the bright pinks and cheerful greens that usually get collectors excited. Its speckled beige finish and curling blue flowers are much quieter. But for anyone who likes old-fashioned country kitchens, it’s a lovely find, particularly when
The Country-Living Pyrex Pattern Collectors Dream Of Finding At A Thrift Store Read More »
Before you switch the heat on for the season, check the furnace filter, make sure the air vents aren’t blocked, test your thermostat and carbon monoxide alarms, and arrange professional servicing if it’s due. Those are the jobs that can make a real difference without turning a straightforward bit of household maintenance into a risky
Before the Heating Goes On: Furnace Care You Can Do and Jobs to Book Read More »
Pyrex Town and Country wasn’t designed to look perfectly matching. That’s what makes it such an interesting thrift-store find. One bowl might be chocolate brown, another orange or yellow, and the largest could be white with a cheerful geometric design. Put them together, though, and you’ve got a set that looks exactly as its original
The Mix-And-Match Pyrex Pattern Collectors Dream Of Finding At A Thrift Store Read More »
Grandma didn’t need a new product for every little job. A worn towel could clean muddy boots, a spare button could rescue a coat, and yesterday’s vegetable trimmings might become tomorrow’s soup. The useful habit wasn’t keeping absolutely everything. It was noticing what still had a job to do. 1. Worn towels A thin or
15 Things Grandma kept and reused that we’ve gotten used to throwing away Read More »
Lemon peel has a lot more to offer than a place in the compost bin. The yellow outer skin adds bright flavor to cakes, savory food, sugar, and dressings, while the leftover peel can help with a few household cleaning jobs. The trick is using the right part of the peel for the job, and
Soft white bread can lift surface dirt from wallpaper without soaking it or giving it a vigorous scrub. The useful part is the crumb, meaning the soft center of the loaf, rather than the crust or dried breadcrumbs you’d scatter over a casserole. It’s an old housekeeping method worth considering when a little surface grime
You scrub the kitchen counters, vacuum the floors, take out the trash, and generally keep your home clean. Then you turn on the kitchen light one evening and see a cockroach scuttling behind the refrigerator. Lovely. Just what you wanted. The trouble is, cockroaches aren’t particularly fussy about where they live. Even the cleanest homes
Washing soda and dish soap, mixed with warm water in a spray bottle, is the combo. Washing soda is sodium carbonate, a cleaner with a pH around 11, and it’s what actually supplies the grease-breaking alkalinity here. Dish soap’s surfactants finish the job by grabbing what’s left so you can wipe it away. Together they
Skip the Store-Bought Cleaner: The Homemade Combo That Cuts Through Grease Read More »
I’ve never understood people who can walk past a shelf of old Pyrex without at least slowing down for a look. Even if you’re not a serious collector, those stacks of unapologetically pink, turquoise, yellow, and patterned bowls are difficult to ignore. And if you spot pink Pyrex covered in little sprays of berries and
The Pink Pyrex Pattern Collectors Dream of Finding at a Thrift Store Read More »
Bleach is safe for a septic system in the amounts a normal household actually uses. It takes something in the neighborhood of 1.85 gallons of liquid bleach dumped straight into a 1,000-gallon tank to seriously knock out the bacteria down there, and nobody’s laundry routine gets anywhere close to that. I’ve had a septic system on our place
Is Bleach Safe for a Septic System? Read More »
Wool dryer balls get towels soft again for about a fraction of a cent per load. A set of four to six, felted from one skein of yarn or bought outright, will outlast roughly 1,000 loads before you need to replace them. If your towels come out of the dryer smelling great but don’t actually
Skip the Dryer Sheets: The Laundry Trick That Gets Towels Soft for Pennies Read More »
Most of my regular readers already know I’m a master herbalist and permaculturist, so finding natural ways to do things is how we do things in our house. Wherever you live, I guarantee there’s bugs nearby that you’d rather keep out of your home. A big one for me is ants. They are a real
14 Natural Pest Deterrents That Actually Keep Bugs Out of Your Home Read More »
Most people bleed money from the kitchen without noticing. Half a cabbage slowly liquefies in the veg drawer. A packet of chicken goes dry and grey at the back of the freezer. You order takeout because you’re “too tired to cook,” when what you’re really too tired to do is fight blunt knives and rubbish
12 simple kitchen tools that pay for themselves in under a year Read More »
You know that feeling when people are about to come over and suddenly you see your house with “guest eyes”? The couch feels a little tired. The lighting looks weirdly harsh. The dining table is… there, but not exactly welcoming. But you don’t need a full makeover or a designer budget to make your home
16 Subtle Hosting Tricks That Make Your Home Feel Like a Boutique Hotel Read More »
You know that moment when someone texts, “We’ll be there in an hour!” and suddenly your house looks like a crime scene? The floors are vacuumed. The counters are wiped. You’re technically “clean.”But your brain’s whispering, What about the weird stuff? The things people actually touch? The places I never remember until my mother-in-law is standing
There’s nothing like opening the old ornament box and getting hit with that mix of cardboard, dust, and memory. The glass birds with half-rubbed tails. The faded pink balls. The one slightly creepy Santa who’s been on every tree since before you were born. They’re not just decorations. They’re family history hanging on a bit
How To Care For Your Grandma’s Vintage Christmas Ornaments So They Last For Generations Read More »
The first cold snap hits, the furnace finally runs more than a test cycle, and then that first real winter bill shows up. You stare at it and think, “How on earth is it this high?” Most of the time, nothing is “wrong” with the utility company. The house and the HVAC system are just
12 Common HVAC Mistakes You’re Making That’s Costing You Money This Winter Read More »
I hate that time of the year when the heat kicks on, you watch the thermostat climb, and all you can see is your utility bill doing the same thing. But I can’t let everyone freeze, can I? There are days when you have to turn the heat up. But there’s a whole lot you
18 Cozy Ways to Make Your Home Feel Warmer Without Touching the Thermostat Read More »
The cold snap rolled in fast. One minute I was splitting kindling on the porch, the next the sky went that odd gray-green that always makes me uneasy. Then—click—the house went silent. No furnace hum.No well pump.No lights. Just the kind of quiet that makes you suddenly aware of every draft in your old farmhouse.
The Winter Blackout Kit Every Household Needs (And How to Test It in 10 Minutes) Read More »
You know those dusty cardboard boxes in the attic that you inherited and you swear you’ll “go through next year”? Some of that old Christmas junk might actually be paying your winter heating bill. Or a chunk of your mortgage. Or at least your holiday grocery run. I have mixed feelings. Reselling or flipping thrift
18 Pieces of Vintage Christmas Décor That Could Be Worth a Bundle Read More »
Vinegar is not only for your chips. Read our 12 different ways to use vinegar around the home.
21 Brilliant Ways to Use Vinegar Around the Home for Cleaning and Personal Care Read More »
Check out our list of steampunk bathroom ideas. Find fun, unique, and authentic design ideas for transforming your space, no matter your budget or taste.
25 Awesome Bathroom Steampunk Ideas Read More »
Create your own beautiful DIY photo collages. Check out these photo collage ideas for help decorating your space and showcasing your wonderful memories.
25 Awesome DIY Picture Collage Ideas You’ll Love + Tips Read More »
Hang your hats on these awesome DIY hat racks. Try these DIY hat rack tutorials to store and showcase your collection of hats.
24 Awesome DIY Hat Rack Ideas for Any Space + Tips Read More »
Fantastic tea and coffee station ideas to make your home look amazing and will fit your budget as well as your style.
20 Best Coffee and Tea Station Ideas You’ll Love Read More »
Find out how to get rid of ants naturally with our tried and tested eco-friendly pest control options that really work! Keep reading to learn more…
11 Ways to Get Rid of Ants Naturally That Really Work! Read More »
Your walking boots take a lot of abuse. Find out how to clean your walking boots and keep them in top condition for years.
How to Care for Your Walking Boots Read More »
Don’t just throw away your old coffee grounds – find out how to reuse them!
10 Ingenious Ways to Use Old Coffee Grounds Read More »
Use any of our 7 natural ways to keep spiders out of your home to repel those pesky arachnids, without resorting to chemicals.
7 Natural Ways to Keep Spiders Out of Your Home Read More »
Natural DIY laundry detergent is fast and easy to make and is much better for you, your family and the planet. See the recipe!
Easy, Natural DIY Laundry Detergent Read More »
