Spring Cleaning Tips For Home Improvement

September 27, 2017 by Kathryn 2 Comments

Although it isn’t necessarily springtime, the term “spring cleaning” has become a sort of catch-all for when you’re ready to redo, remodel or renovate your home all at once before the upcoming season.

A dedicated bout of cleaning and remodeling can really lift your family’s collective spirit, as well as give you opportunities to create a more freeing sense of space in the house. As someone that’s notorious for avoiding cleaning when I can, I’ve got some tips (from long experience) that’ll help you achieve that refreshing feeling of cleanliness and openness without tons of effort!

The Bathroom’s A Great Place To Start

Not only can a thorough bathroom cleaning give the place a new sheen, but you can add new elements while swapping out old ones at minimal cost. This can include the addition or replacement of shower doors, upgrading the bathroom faucet and installing energy-efficient windows. [Read more…]

Preventative Home Maintenance Tips You Shouldn’t Ignore

September 25, 2017 by Kathryn 1 Comment

Home maintenance is one of the most crucial tasks for any homeowner. It’s all about maintaining your house, fixtures and fittings to ensure your home stays safe and secure. Of course, there are numerous house maintenance tasks to be done, so the list actually depends on your home.

That being said, there are some basic home maintenance jobs most homeowners should be doing regularly. And if you’re wondereding where to start, these are key preventative maintenance tips you shouldn’t ignore: [Read more…]

Easy Ways to Make Your Home More Kid-Friendly

April 20, 2017 by Kathryn Leave a Comment

Combining décor and functionality is hard enough, but adding kids into the mix makes home design feel almost impossible. Maintaining a clean space, providing comfort and adding safety features are just a few of the ways you can make your home more kid-friendly. Keep these facets in mind and transform your home into a safe, happy shelter for your entire family.

Furniture That Provides Storage Space

As any parent with young children can attest, it’s easy for the living room to turn from elegant sitting room to toy box overflow. It’s important to look for furniture that does double duty when it comes to style and storage. From ottomans that open up to provide the perfect book storing nook, to side tables that feature drawers where you can toss pencils and crayons that aren’t getting used, looking for furniture that provides storage solutions is essential. Shop for storage furniture on CrateandBarrel.com. [Read more…]

Decorate for Halloween with Two Easy DIY Crafts and Earn Double RBC Reward Points at Home Depot

October 14, 2016 by Kathryn 15 Comments

Halloween has always been one of my favourite holidays. I love the costumes, the decorations and the fun spooky spirit of the season. So I also love creating DIY décor for the yard to get everyone into the Halloween spirit! This year, we don’t have a whole lot of space to decorate since the front yard of our townhouse is fairly small. So with my RBC Rewards Credit Card in hand, I headed to The Home Depot Canada to stock up on supplies for a few easy decorations for small spaces…giant garbage bag spiders and glowing chicken wire ghosts!

With two times reward points for RBC Rewards Credit Card holders in Saskatchewan and Alberta on all purchases from The Home Depot Canada until the end of October, the timing was perfect for grabbing my supplies. I bought PVC pipe, elbow connecters, black spray paint, glow-in-the-dark spray paint and both one and two-inch chicken fencing. Then I added a cute plastic jack-o-lantern that plugged into the wall as a fun finishing touch! With my supplies in hand, it was time to get creative. [Read more…]

Get Ready for the New School Year with the DYMO LabelManager 160P from Staples Canada

September 7, 2016 by Kathryn

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Newell Rubbermaid®. The opinions and texts are all mine.

Most years, I’m a pro at getting my boys back to school with as little fuss and bother as possible. But this year I have to admit that I’m feeling a little unprepared. My boys are attending a new school for the first time in their lives. A month of back to back vacations meant I never got the chance to buy school supplies in advance as I usually do. And now, school registration is just a week away and I’m frantically stocking up on the supplies my boys will need for a successful year of learning.

As usual, every item my boys will be using this year needs to be labelled with their names and most years, that’s no problem at all. I love ordering printed personalized labels every year to save me the time of individually writing their names on each item they use at school. But this year, the constant bustle meant I never had a chance to order labels for the new school year. So what’s a mom that’s short on time to do? Head to Staples for the DYMO® LabelManager™ 160P label maker!

This sleek little handheld label maker is so easy to use and looked like the perfect solution for my back-to-school labeling needs. The QWERTY keyboard let me quickly enter the words I wanted to print, while formatting buttons gave me options including font size, bold text, italics and adding symbols. Then, with the push of a button, a crisp black and white label was printed, ready to be applied to school gear. But best of all, the reprint feature meant that I just had to keep pressing the print button to make multiples of the same label! [Read more…]

Share Your Thoughts on P&G Products with the Rate and Review Program #PGMom

March 31, 2016 by Kathryn 1 Comment

As a P&G Mom, I’ve had the chance to test a lot of products over the years and then share reviews on my website. Some were ones I’ve loved for years. Others were new to me and have become must-haves in my house. And still others were okay, but just didn’t impress me quite as much. But no matter what I think of the products, having the chance to share my thoughts both with P&G and with family, friends and readers is something I’ve always loved.

And now, you can share your thoughts on P&G products too! With the P&G Rate and Review program, Canadians can create reviews of the P&G products that wowed them and the ones that they’re not so crazy about. Just visit PGeveryday.ca and click the Rate and Review button to see a full list of P&G products. Then click on the one you want to review and share your thoughts with the world! Recently I had the chance to review a few popular products myself: Charmin Ultra Strong Bathroom Tissue, Pantene Moisture Renewal haircare and the Swiffer Sweep and Trap. Here are the thoughts I shared in my reviews on the P&G website.

[Read more…]

Quick Home Redecoration Tips this Summer

March 28, 2016 by Kathryn 1 Comment

Summer is coming right up – are you feeling it yet? Bring the feelings and color of summertime into your family’s personal space with some simple summer home redecoration tips and tricks including everything from furniture rearrangements to the scents of the season!

Natural Living. To bring instant organic appeal, try planting succulents in a big shell. The tiny plants can last for a long time and will require little care, making them the right addition to a summery end table or basically anywhere. Putting this on (or near) natural elements will add character and texture to this chic display.

Open It Up. Look at your home as a summer rental space, and you’ll automatically see it in a different light. Pull back the curtains and throw open the windows, get rid of decorations that are gloomy, dark or fussy. Remove heavy accessories, throws and other unnecessary small décor until there’s “space” in your space. [Read more…]

New Parfum Berger Scented Bouquets Make a Great Holiday Hostess Gift-Giveaway

November 26, 2015 by Kathryn 82 Comments

With December just a few days away, I have the holiday season on my mind. I’ve already been shopping up a storm buying gifts for my nieces and nephews, my boys and my significant other. And when I went searching for the perfect hostess gift, Parfum Berger was ready to help! Lampe Berger Canada’s unique new line of home fragrances make a great gift for Mom, a favourite friend or the hostess at a holiday party. And I couldn’t wait to try out one of the Scented Bouquets for myself!

I received the Cube Scented Bouquet in the Amber Powder scent to review. I loved the classic clean look of the set and wasted no time in removing the plastic stopper and arranging the sticks in the bottle. The polymer sticks help the scent to diffuse into the room more evenly and as an added bonus, they give the Scented Bouquet a great modern style! [Read more…]