Decorating
Right-Sizing for Kids: 10 Smart Mama Tips
June 23rd, 2011 | 2 Comments
Tags: Decorating, mamas, Shopping
The guest bloggers are back! Today, we’re happy to have author Gale Steves, Right-Sizing Your Home – How to Make Your House Fit Your Lifestyle, serve up a dose of smart-sense for every space strapped mama on a budget. Read her post and then tell us your best advice for dealing with playroom clutter. One lucky winner gets a copy of her great new book!
No one ever has enough space, and that is as true for your kids as it is for you. Toys, games, clothes, dolls, stuffed animals, school projects, electronics, and more clog up their spaces, no matter how generous the rooms may be.
Think about maximizing the usefulness of the space they already have. This goes beyond clever storage ideas to delve deep into creating a room that is comfortable and efficient for all their activities.
The bed is the main focus of any bedroom. Opt for timeless design rather than the theme of the moment. Kids tend to outgrow everything somewhat quickly – even their furniture – and they tastes change. Will that bunk bed really work for a cool teenager? With careful planning, whatever bed you choose should serve through several stages of childhood.
It is amazing how much stuff little kids collect, and it never seems to stop. Coping with storage is as continual a battle as cleaning up after that toddler or teen. Consider how much space they might need, and then double it!
Here are ten hints to help:
-A daybed over a trundle bed is the perfect solution for sleepovers
-A storage headboard not only saves space but can hold books, games and toys.
-Bedside cabinets rather than tables offer more storage options
-Bedside lamps mounted on the wall means more rooms by bedside
-Bunk or loft bed components offer different combinations for work and sleep.
-Attach bookcases or shelves to wall to avoid potential tip-over
-Under bed storage drawers are a good answer for bulky or out of season clothes.
-Add room to a small bedroom by thinking vertically. Desktop hutch adds storage plus display space.
-Placing a desk under a top nunk instead of another bed creates a private study area.
-Turn an old trunk into a home for sneakers, shoes and boots – call it “boot camp”.
-Bedside lamps mounted on the wall means more rooms by bedside.
Remember: we’re giving away one copy of the book “Right-Sizing Your Home – How to Make Your House Fit Your Lifestyle” in response to this question
What is your best advice for dealing with play room clutter?
Watch for our new book Smart Mama, Smart Money: How to Raise Happy Healthy Kids Without Breaking the Bank 
Obsessively Complete Decorating (O.C.D.)
January 13th, 2011 | Comments
Tags: Decorating
We believe in the value of obsessions.
Like an old vinyl record we sometimes get stuck in a groove: a collection of Somewhere Over the Rainbow songs; a larder stocked with Speck from Italy, Austria and Iowa (really); an assortment of white and black candleholders, vases, and oddball objects.
It’s to the latter we want to direct your attention when table settings are on your mind. Through the years whenever we see interesting vases, candle holders or objects at great prices we’ll buy them. We have found them at flea markets, stores going out of business, Marshall’s, Barney’s (double markdowns and % off coupons), tag sales. Then when it’s time to set the table we haul them out and either use them as nature intended or re-purpose them.
The trick is to establish a theme: only black and white tschatkes; only objects with insect motifs; only prissy-painted florals. Think periods like Victorian or mid-century modern; use single materials like frosted glass or lucite.
 Stuff flowers in egg cups, candles in flower vases, salt in shot glasses. Be neat and line your collection up in a row. Be scattered and toss everything willy-nilly around the table. Go crazy–OVERDO it–don’t be shy.
Home Decorating and Horny
September 7th, 2010 | Comments
Tags: accessories, antlers, budget, chandeliers, Decorating, home design, horns, humor
For those of you who have read ‘The Bitches’ you know we lust after bold, sexy, big…
…chandeliers.
While we’re infatuated with enormous antler-inspired light fixtures, we can’t have them. They’re way too big for our space, too pricy for our budget and would require an entire home makeover to fit in.
Sooo…
…we went on the hunt for substitutes because we believe that little things, when used correctly, can still keep a girl satisfied. We’ve found an array of faux horny things sure to please:
While not illuminating this cardboard head is dear to us.
This wall mounted coat hanger is a complete turn-on.
Ballard Designs, (one of our go to catalogs for good looking home accents), is selling a knockout collection by Susan Kasler.
Of course, a gal on a budget could brave the woods* and collect her own trophies. After all, those big bucks freely shed their wares.
*(Just make sure the woods you pick allow you to legally collect shed antlers.)
Clever-in-Home
August 18th, 2010 | Comments
Tags: bargain, bargains, Decorating, Food & Spirits, John Derian, Mulberry, Shopping, Target
In case you hadn’t noticed, most of us are spending more time at home these days.
It works for us since we’re mad cooks and always looking for victims, ahem, guests to eat our latest experiments. Since we’re never sure how dinner will really turn out, our strategy is to razzle- dazzle them with very cool table settings.
 Target: John Derian
As a result, we’re always on the look out for fun new ways to spice up our dishes. Those of you who have read ‘The Bitches’ know of our love affair with Target for chic, smart, affordable design. What you also know is that Target hires ‘guest’ hot shot designers to do limited collections of fab goods at great prices. Too often, though, the distribution of these goods is limited and they sell out fast.
So here’s a tip: a great looking set of wares from John Derian is premiering at Target on 9/5.
And, for those of you B’s who are on to Gilt Groupe (savvy Bitches on a Budget book readers– we know you are) they are doing a collaboration with Target this Friday 8/20 starting at noon. They’re selling not only John Derian, but also killer handbags from Mulberry (available in stores in October) for those now rare occasions when you do get to go out!
 Target: Mulberry
…
Read our piece on Target and political contributions in the Huffington Post.
” Purge the lust in your heart…”
August 16th, 2010 | Comments
Tags: Decorating, Happiness, simple pleasures, Travel & Entertainment
After spending the last few weeks doing the things we love best: cooking with friends, eating, bicycling, going to the beach, reading, learning to square dance (don’t get all nervous, we’re still our normal, not overly perky selves–but stepping out every now and then is a hoot) we were reminded of our own sage advice. Living a rich life is not expensive.
From the book Bitches on a Budget:
Free Your Mind Fill Your Wallet:
Purge the lust in your heart for all those meaningless, outsize status pieces you’ve been mindlessly pursuing and thinking indispensable to your happiness. You know the La Cornue stove, the Noguchi Freeform Sofa, the set of original Fornasetti wall plates–they won’t make you happy. Well, not that happy.
Share your prescription for happiness on a budget.
Home Remedies to Get You out of Your Depression
July 20th, 2010 | Comments
Tags: budget, Decorating, home design, linens, mirrors, Shopping
We all need a little pick-me-up from time to time, whether it’s a new lipstick or a home refresher. Here’s a teaser from chapter 4 of Bitches on a Budget, all about updating your home on a shoestring. We’ll give you the lowdown on what to toss, how to re-purpose, where to buy, and when to splurge.
Home Remedies to Get You Out of Recession Depression
On linens:
Bitch, you spend more time in the bed and bath than anywhere else. Outside of your toothbrush, which objects gets more up close and personal? Do you need reminding of a few basic facts? OK, here goes. Things suck. Life is short, wars rage, money’s tight, jobs are sparse. These days, the only legitimate way to pamper yourself is with everyday objects—the things you use constantly. The things that know your skin and curves better than any man ever could…
On the Mid-Century Modern Craze:
Mid-century modern became hot by skipping a generation. No one wanted the old furniture from those 50’s ranch houses, so it was cheap, cheap, cheap. All the very cool hipster, creative types who couldn’t afford pricy antiques bought it because they could afford it…. Be a contrarian and think of the rush to modern as your opportunity to get back in touch (a little) with the frippery and finery of another era. A bitch is nothing if not in touch with her paradoxes…
On Mirrors:
Think Grandma’s place in Miami: the walls of mirror, the gold furnishings, the plastic cover on the sofa…. We can go without the plastic, but those mirrors? Love ‘em. They’re a perfect, simple, and cheap way to enhance any room. We’re not talking Poconos ceiling mirrors (although we like your thinking) but well-placed, space-enhancing, light-reflecting mirrors…
Bitches on a Budget is published by the New American Library division of Penguin Books. Available at all major bookstores and Amazon.
Searching for Interior Space Ideas? Free Peeking
June 22nd, 2010 | 1 Comment
Tags: Decorating, home design, interior, Shopping, women's
What woman in her heart of hearts isn’t a secret voyeur?
It’s nighttime. You’re strolling down the street, past rows of homes, curtained window after window. Tell us, are you not drawn to the one room not entirely hidden from sight? To that one apartment where the curtains aren’t sealed, where a stream of light leaks out, revealing a fractured glimpse of the home within? Do you not slow your pace, crane your neck, try oh-so-casually to catch a glimpse of the life beyond the window? Don’t you pause, half-hidden by the shrubbery, to sneak a look at the art on the walls, the rumpled sofa… and, oh, is that Marimekko fabric on the side chair? What paint color is that amazing accent wall? And what on earth is that odd assemblage on top on the bookshelf? A collection of birds’ nests? Or just crumpled tissues?
People are fascinating. Their stuff is too. Other people’s collections and clutter and curiosities excite us. We love how a home reflects the spirit and soul of its inhabits— whether the inhabitants are aware of it or not.
Nope, we won’t lie: we love to spy.
But how? The homes in glossy magazines—so overstyled and trim and tidy—they don’t cut it. Fun, but they don’t send shivers. Too self-conscious. Design porn isn’t the real thing.
(more…)
Thrift, Virtue and Splurging
June 1st, 2010 | 1 Comment
Tags: Beauty & Grooming, Decorating, Health & Fitness, Shopping, Splurge, splurge-worthy, Travel & Entertainment
When Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace prize it piqued our interest. While we’re optimists by nature, we found ourselves a little worried. You know when a story climaxes too soon, the end result isn’t very satisfying. And we have very high hopes for the big O. While we were debating the merits of the award, we thought back to Al Gore and his winning the Peace Prize for his work with the environment and climate change. How relevant to our work: conservation and careful use of resources are keys to being a modern woman living on a budget. President Carter and his Nobel Prize for brokering conflict resolution also comes to mind as our heart lusts after all those unaffordable but adorable things we once thought essential to our happiness. You know, like a day at the spa, dinner at Daniel, or that Narcisco leather jacket. We digress. Anyway, it got us to thinking about thrift and virtue.
Since everything is about us (isn’t it?), we began to wonder if there shouldn’t be a prize for being thrifty. Don’t we too deserve a reward for being so mindful and careful about how we’re spending our precious resources? What’s more virtuous than thrift? Then we started to get nervous. Images of thrift started floating by: a wingback chair, a needlepoint stool, little tabby lapping a wholesome plate of milk, Aunt Jenny saving rubber bands. It’s safe and sensible being thrifty. But do we want to be so prudent all the time? No, not really.
Remember in our “Whap!” post we talked about the devil and the angel sitting on your shoulders helping you resolve your purchasing conflicts? How in our brownie recipe we talked about teasing your palate with different sensory sensations? Well, contrasts are what make life worth living; without the ups and downs where would we be? (Okay, on Prozac.) But how would we ever experience joy and sadness, pleasure and pain, love and hate?
We’d live a very boring and passionless life if we didn’t on occasion act on that little lust engine that drives us. (Think planting peanuts versus running Worldwide Pants.) After all, lust is the fuel that propels us forward. It’s green (the color of envy) and it’s renewable. The trick is for you to be your own lust-master. On the surface it should be easier for us than for boys, but have you seen Alexander McQueen’s new collection? Yes, we want to be thrifty, but not all the time. Learn to be your own conflict resolution negotiator; by saving and conserving you’ll have the flexibility to go out and have a satisfying good splurge. A great splurge should bring peace (if not a peace prize)—not saddle you with anxiety or buyer’s remorse.
While we’re budget gurus, we recognize the eternal yin-yangness of life on earth. And so we celebrate the splurge as well as the conservation. We laud the new and shiny as well as the old and worn.
Tell us: what’s the biggest and best splurge in your recent memory?
This is an updated ‘oldie but goodie’ from Bitches on a Budget.
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A Little Housekeeping Pick-Me-Up
May 20th, 2010 | Comments
Tags: Decorating, design
Have you picked up our book yet? What are you waiting for?
OK, OK, right, you’re on a budget. We’re with you, ladies. But think of it this way: for the price of one overpriced cosmo, or a quarter tank of gas, or two greasy meals at McDonalds, you get so much: a reference guide you’ll return to again and again, a shopping tutorial, product tips, entertainment. And most importantly? A community. 67,000 and growing! Join us!
Here’s a teaser from Chapter 4 (Home Remedies to Get You Out of Recession Depression), all about updating your  home on a shoestring. We give you the lowdown on to toss, how to re-purpose, where to buy, and when to splurge.
On linens:
Bitch, you spend more time in the bed and bath than anywhere else. Outside of your toothbrush, which objects gets more up close and personal? Do you need reminding of a few basic facts? OK, here goes. Things suck. Life is short, wars rage, money’s tight, jobs are sparse. These days, the only legitimate way to pamper yourself is with everyday objects—the things you use constantly. The things that know your skin and curves better than any man ever could…
On the Mid-Century Modern Craze:
Mid-century modern became hot by skipping a generation. No one wanted the old furniture from those 50’s ranch houses, so it was cheap, cheap, cheap. All the very cool hipster, creative types who couldn’t afford pricy antiques bought it because they could afford it…. Be a contrarian and think of the rush to modern as your opportunity to get back in touch (a little) with the frippery and finery of another era. A bitch is nothing if not in touch with her paradoxes…
On Mirrors:
Think Grandma’s place in Miami: the walls of mirror, the gold furnishings, the plastic cover on the sofa…. We can go without the plastic, but those mirrors? Love ‘em. They’re a perfect, simple, and cheap way to enhance any room. We’re not talking Poconos ceiling mirrors (although we like your thinking) but well-placed, space-enhancing, light-reflecting mirrors…
We’re available at booksellers everyone—pick us up! Then tell us what you think!
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