Creature comfort

For those of you that know me, I have a fondness for neutral colors and if asked, my favorite color is brown.  When I was about four my mom dressed me in an all brown (dark chocolate to be specific) polyester dress, brown stockings and brown patten leather shoes all of which I hated!  I would cry every time she forced me to wear this getup, tears of pure pain and suffering would flow!  Now of course, I would probably love it (I will never admit that to my mom however). 

In any case, I thought today I would post about neutrals in your home and while busy scouring Pinterest for some great neutral fabrics, paint colors and prints I ran across the little fella below and well, couldn't help myself to keep clicking around looking at all the animals that reassure me that dressing myself and my home in brown is what nature does best....inspiration is everywhere and in everything.  I will get more technical on another day but for now...enjoy!

Apryl

via kero.i.am

via The Beauty of Planet Earth

via 16 bars

via Pinterest

Curb appeal

I mentioned the other day I would be writing about curb appeal...we are in the process of our own curb appeal project.  We have ripped the ugly tiles off our front porch, dug up flower beds and made some pathways.  We have a large corner lot that is almost all grass and Anthony and I would both love to get rid of it all and make our yard a more water wise space so hence why it is currently in limbo. My hope is that once spring is here we will be able to complete this long running project. 

In the meantime however for those that are selling their homes curb appeal is a must and it doesn't always mean spending thousands of dollars. 

First take a good look around your home.  What do you notice? 

Are there weeds in the flower beds?  If so pull them.  Are there dead flowers or plants?  If so clean them out and replace.  If you can't replace them add a few bags of mulch or garden bark which will make your beds look well maintained even without plants or flowers.

Check that your mailbox is sturdy, clean and if broken or damaged replace it.

Check all of your outdoor lighting making sure all of the lights turn on and nothing is burned out. 

Do you have house numbers?  If so, are they visible from the street? 

How is the paint?  Painting the outside of your home can be expensive but it gives a drab or dated house a fresh face, so if needed get it done.  House colors are something to touch on briefly.  If you like the color purple great...however not everyone does so paint your new house purple when you move into it but the rule of thumb is to stick to neutral colors when selling which goes for the inside paint colors as well. 

How is your front door?  If it looks old and dated it is best to replace it or at the very least paint it.  Our home is brown with white trim and our front door is painted black which adds contrast.  We also added black shutters to our front window which ties it all together.

Are there trees or shrubs blocking the view of your home or entrance?  If so get them pruned back or in some cases removing large trees really opens up the front of the home making it much more welcoming. 

Make sure your sprinklers are in working order, as a buyer will notice if a patch of grass is dying and it will alert them that there is a sprinkler issue.

Add some character to the porch...potted flowers by the door, a bench and a welcome mat.  Remove all the shoes before the open house, sweep it off and you should be ready to get that sold sign hung!

Again, take a really good look around the outside of your home and try to remember that you are selling this home, so please don't take it personally when your home stager suggests painting your lovely aqua blue home with purple trim (yes we have a house like this in our area) to a more neutral color.  We stagers along with your realtor want you to get the most money for your home and it isn't our intention to insult you along the way, but rather help you put your homes best face forward.

Happy curb appealing!!!

Apryl

Here are some great before and after curb appeal photos.

 

via My Home Ideas

via Better Homes and Gardens

via Canadian House & Home

Pesto, Chicken & Spinach Lasagna...new family fave!!

A few months ago I was making chicken parm and there was a recipe for chicken, spinach and pesto lasagna on the mozzarella package that looked really delish...so I cut it out and stashed it in my recipe folder.  This folder is sometimes a place where recipes go to die but seeing as I'm back in my dinner rut I decided it was time to put this one to the test.  Typically when I try a new dish I follow the recipe exactly and then the next time I make it I will tweak it a bit...so the next time I make this delicious dish, I will be adding more garlic as the original recipe only called for three cloves and it needed much more in my opinion and I will add some mushrooms and other veggies instead of all of the spinach. Like I said, I always tweak after I've tried out the original.

Ingredients:
(12) lasagna noodles (I use the Trader Joe's no boiling noodles)
1 cup onion chopped
3-6 garlic cloves crushed (add as much or as little as you like)
*2 (12oz) packages of frozen spinach OR (1) pkg spinach, (1) shredded carrot, (7) mushrooms sliced, (1) zucchini shredded
3 cups cooked chicken diced (I baked mine in the oven for 25 min. at 350°with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic)
2 cups ricotta cheese
1 large egg
1-1/2 c prepared pesto sauce
3/4 c grated parmesan cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350°

Spray a 13x9 baking dish with nonstick spray

Heat olive oil in saute pan and cook onions and garlic until transparent.

Add the spinach and cook for (5) minutes.  Add the chicken and cook 

for another (5) minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

In a large bowl mix together the ricotta cheese,

egg, pesto and parmesan until blended.

Add the spinach mixture to the cheese mixture. 

Spread a few tablespoons of the mixture on the bottom

of the baking dish and begin layering.

Lay down (4-6) noodles,

top with 1/3 of the spinach mixture, then

top with 1/3 mozzarella.  Repeat twice.

(if using no cook noodles let sit for 15 minutes

before putting in the oven so the noodles soften

a bit before baking)

Bake for 35-40 minutes...

then dig in!!

A welcoming front door...

When deciding to put your home on the market you really need to take a look at all aspects of your home first.  The first thing a perspective buyer sees when they pull up to your home is your front yard and in those first few moments they are all ready deciding if they want to go inside.  I will post more on curb appeal next week but today I'm focusing on the front porch and door.  The front door is what welcomes people into your home so spend some time making sure your front porch is an inviting space before you put the "for sale" sign in your yard.

Purchasing a new door can be very expensive but with a good ol' wash down and some new paint you can change the entire look of your home.  Be sure to update any light fixtures or take down your existing fixtures and clean them if needed as spiders love to climb inside and make this home and a creepy crawly is not who you want welcoming your buyers or guests.  Potted plants near your entry add color and are always a nice touch...just make sure they are alive.  If you have any furniture on your porch be sure that it is clean and adding pillows will add some character too.  Shake out your door mat and sweep all around and you should be ready to welcome your buyer inside.

Happy Friday.
Apryl

via Better Homes and Gardens

via Better Homes and Gardens

via Concord Green

via Better Homes and Gardens

Hurray new curtains....

So some time ago I had this great idea of taking down my living room curtains and washing them...what I didn't remember was that they needed to be dry cleaned only.  Although they were nice and clean they were also nice and short.  This has bothered me for so long but I just couldn't find anything I really liked to replace them but now after going to only (3) different TJ Maxx stores I have new curtains.  They do touch the floor perfectly when not pulled back but my curtains are always pulled back so they could be a touch longer so when I get my sewing machine back from my friend I shall lower the hem.

If you have ever wondered how long your drapes or curtains should be or how to measure where to put the curtain rod here is a easy guide from Real Simple.

Have a great day.
Apryl

Here we go...get your pen and paper ready!

Ok here it is...my first real step into 2013.  The holidays are truly over for our family, vacation fun is over, family has departed from our home and King is back at school.  I'm ready to get the year going.  I mentioned in my post the other day that I plan to write more in the coming year not only here on the blog, but also privately.  By privately I mean putting pen to paper or more accurately fingers to the keyboard and get all the stories I have swimming in my head onto actual paper.  I would also like to start journaling again.  I say "again" as I have been journaling off and on since I was a kid.  If I went out to our garage I could dig up a few journals and have you laughing at excerpts from my "dear diary" teenage musing days...I will save that for another day.
With that said...one of my favorite blogs to read and follow is lil blue boo written by Ashley Hackshaw.  Ashley is so real and honest.  Read her "cancer chronicles" and you will understand what I mean (grab tissue first) she is also so creative which I admire as I wish my creativity came a little more organically.  One of the many things I loved that Ashley did this past year was a journaling project.  She started back in September and I kept wanting to start her day to day prompts but kept putting it off, I'm not delaying any longer.  I'm going to start the Lil Journal Project by Ashley and see where it leads, what I learn about myself and where it takes me.  I want my kids to read my journal one day and have them smile remembering how quirky I was, how ugly my handwriting was or how atrocious my grammar was...I want to look back next year and see growth, progress, tears of joy instead of pain, laughter and strength.  Will you do this with me?  Will you take just a few minutes of your day and journal too?  Come on grab an empty notebook and pen forget about not having spell check and start with me and see where it leads you.

 Here is my journal and my first entry.  It made me smile when I was finished and I actually wanted to jump ahead and do the day 2 prompt but I didn't, I refrained and am so looking forward to tomorrow...

If you want to join me in this project click here on lil blue boo which will take you to the blog where you will find the daily prompts or you can follow lil blue boo on Pinterest which is perfect, as Ashley has all the daily prompts in one spot and you can save them to a board. 

Here's to an amazing year ahead.

Apryl

The New Year

Happy New Year all!!

I am still on a bit of a "blog vacation" and although I'm not posting until next week, I am busy working on new post ideas, crafty gifts and projects for the year ahead and some home decorating ideas I have planned for our home.  Now...I have never been one for New Year's resolutions as it seems to me that resolutions are something we resolve to break soon after January first.  So even though I do not make resolutions per se I do have a few things I would like to accomplish this coming year.  Firstly I would like to print more of the pictures I take instead of leaving them in folders on my computer, I would like to do another half marathon, I want to read more and learn more and lastly write more. 

So with all of that said, I'm so looking forward to the year ahead and all it has in store and I pray for everyone that 2013 be a year of wonder, inspiration, joy and blessing.

Have a wonderful day!
Apryl