It's good to give

Ever get sick of clothes, home furnishings, books and whatnot just cluttering up your house? Well, we totally do...probably every other month, we go through our house and closets just to see what we don't need or use anymore and make a huge Goodwill run. Not only do you get to rid your house of clutter, you also get to make donations that benefit those in need of job assistance, clothing and a better life. Plus, your donation is tax deductible, so keep your receipts.

We donated a bunch of books we have already read, clothes (my rule is if I haven't worn it in a year, I am not going to), some bookshelves we had, pillows and videos. I don't think we even have a VCR anymore. However, they will not accept items such as used underwear and bras, for pretty obvious reasons. So, if it is trash, just throw it away, don't waste their time. They go through every item donated to make sure is it safe, clean and working, so don't donate just anything, be discriminating and throw away what is really trash.

Cleaning out your home can give you a whole new outlook on life too. I find that when I go through old items that have just been hiding in the closet and I donate them, I fell good for donating to a worthy cause and all of a sudden the house feels bigger and lighter. It feels like a weight has been lifted and my house is even more clean and organized, which I love. Don't get me wrong, I am not a neat freak, but I do have certain places for certain things. I like being organized, it gives me a sense of control and makes everything easy to find. So, my advice to you is now that spring is upon us, purge purge purge. It will make you feel better, I promise!

Remodeling

Alex and I bought a small red brick house built in 1958. Suffice it to say, it needed some updating. Within the last 3 1/2 years, we have been slowly, but steadily remodeling our home. We have painted, landscaped, built a pergola for the patio and various other projects I can't even think of. Well, our next big project is the remodeling of the bathrooms. We have decided to re-tile both of them and create a larger shower in the master bath (not so much of a master, it is smaller than the other one). So, we went to look at tile and picked out some very neutral tile with some listels and accents to make it pop. We got the samples home and laid them out, but then realized that we picked out tile that would better suit a newer home.

Here is the tip for today: when remodeling your home, try to stay with the style of your home, but in totally modern ways. Confused? What I mean is basically pick out things that you like, but not something that is going to clash with the period or style of your home. For example, you wouldn't want decorate a very modern architectural home with country accents, it just wouldn't go. Feel free to experiment, though. Take home samples and lay them pout. Paint small patches of different colors on your walls and then pick your favorite. So, we are going to pick out new tile this week and keep in mind the style and time period of our home.

Great Site-Brocade Home

I was reading up on my pop culture the other day on http://www.popsugar.com/ and came across this beautiful home style website. http://www.brocadehome.com/ is one of the coolest sites I have come across. I love intricate fabrics and classic patterns in my furniture and furnishings, and Brocade really offers a lot of choices for this. French patterns and silk fabric are a few of my favorite things, but financially can be well out of my reach. This site offers many options for this kind of decorating and, in my opinion, is not over-the-top price wise. I also believe, though, that is there is something you really really love and have to have it in your home, save up for it. We can't all afford to have everything we want right when we want it. Saving is a great idea because some things really cannot be substituted for. Check it out for some great vintage inspired pieces at reasonable prices. The sale section is great and check back often because they are always adding to this area. And, for all of you parents out there, they have a children's section called Petit Boudoir with just wonderful bedroom accents for the little ones in your life.

Also, I have found that this site gives awesome ideas and inspirations for homes that can be both feminine, beautiful, but also comfortable for manly men in your life. I know that Alex doesn't like his house to be too frilly, so I do my best to balance out both feminine and masculine aspects. A great way to do this, I think, is to designate a room together that can be just his. Alex has an office in our house (also happens to be where his closet is) and I have completely let him decorate it however he wants. Although he had workout equipment and free weights in there, it is his room and he can do whatever he wants in there. It makes us both happy, and that is really what it is all about.

West Elm sale

West Elm is a store (mostly catalog) that is owned by Pottery Barn. However, it could not be more different. The style is very modern, but warm and cozy at the same time. They use a lot more bold colors and clean straight lines in their designs. I absolutely love the catalog and online store and wish they would open a store in out area.

Also, the price point is much more affordable than some items at PB. The furniture is very well priced and it is very good quality. It is definitely worth trying, and even better, they are having a sale online with items up to 60% off, awesome. So, visit http://www.westelm.com/ and see what they have to offer. If you have a taste for the modern, this is a great place to shop. If not, they do have items that can fit right in to any home decor.

Shout Out!!!

OK, so this term may be totally old and not cool, but really I don't care. I really need to give props (ha ha) to the Crate & Barrel outlet store in Newsbury, New Jersey...especially Nancy. Here's the scoop: my mom and I were at the store here in Scottsdale registering for even more wedding gifts. I had an Amex gift card burning a hole in my pocket and I saw some really funky bedding that I remembered Alex loved. So, I went over to scan it and found out that it was on clearance, but here's the catch: all they had was my size duvet (hooray) and ONE standard sham. I bought them anyway because I know he loved them and for some reason, I love buying bedding. I thought I could make it work and I already had some great silk shams that I could spice it up with. I got home that night and was super excited to make my new bed. I put on the duvet and the one sham and made the bed (perfectly, of course). Something was just not right, it felt unbalanced. Again, I do not have to match everything, but I really couldn't make the one sham work, it was just weird. I called as many C&B stores as I possibly could and almost completely gave up when I saw the CONTACT US link on their website. I put in a desperate plea for them to help me find one more Andrea Paisley Standard Sham so I could complete my bed. Not even 12 hours later, I had a call and an email from C&B customer service saying that they found me a sham at the outlet store in New Jersey. I was so crazy excited I called right away, spoke with Nancy and begged her to just take my credit card and send it to me. A few days later, I got a package, threw on my new sham and breathed a huge sigh of relief. Balanced had been restored in the Wells/Ross house and all was well. The universe was happy again and I had a reason to live (I exaggerate of course). Just yesterday, I also got a thank you card from Nancy, the very benevolent sales associate at C&B New Jersey thanking me for my purchase. I come from a customer service background and I can really say that this is going above and beyond. Way to go Crate & Barrel, it is now even further confirmed that I will be a customer for life!!! Our bed looks beautiful and romantic and colorful and I could not be happi

SALES

Well, for some reason, Macy's is having a great sale tomorrow, for one day only. Everything is up to 50% off and then anything on clearance is an additional 25% off. I don't know about you, but I love deals like this. Also, right now is a great time to go shopping. It is the ending of one season and the beginning of the next making sales super prevalent and great bargains easy to find. If, for some reason, you don't have stores close to you, go online. When you shop online you can get even better deals sometimes with web-busters and additional discounts. Don't worry, your information will be safe. I have shopped online for years, never having any problems with my identity. Just make sure that you are shopping at a reputable place like anything with a big name like Macy's or Nordstrom. If you have never heard of or seen a site, but want to shop on it, contact them and ask what their security policy is, you can never be too careful. Phoenix is the #1 city in the US for identity theft, so I make sure to do this every time I shop somewhere new.

A little tip, stores will most likely offer you another great discount on top of what you have already received if you open a credit card. Sometimes this can be great, but what I find is that people end up buying more than what they can actually afford and then getting hit with a 25% or more interest rate from the store. If I ever do this, I make sure that I just buy what I was going to in the first place and get the extra discount and then pay the card off right away. Good credit never hurts you, but missing or making late payments can kill your credit score. So buyer beware and be a savvy shopper, don't take the bait just because they are willing to give it out, be responsible.

Satin Smooth

My mom and I were at Crate & Barrel last week, registering for even more wedding gifts. We were downstairs in the furniture section when out of the corner of my eye, I saw the coolest crazy bedding and I loved it. BUT, all they had was a queen Duvet (perfect) and one sham?!? SO, after calling all over the country, I finally found one at an outlet store in New Jersey. It is on it's way, and I am excited.

But, I got home and put the duvet on and make my bed and loved it, but realized that I needed some new sheets that match. Besides, I think we only have 2 or 3 sets of sheets and we switch them out every week on laundry day. The ivory ones we have match fine, but I wanted more contrast, so I hopped online to http://www.overstock.com/ (one of my favorite online outlets) and began searching for chocolate brown sheets. Suffice it to say, there were plenty of sets varying in price from $24.99 to $150 for the entire set. Why not just get the cheapest set? Well, they only had a 150 thread count. For those of you who don't know what thread count is, it is the number of cotton threads woven into one square inch of fabric. The higher the count, the softer the sheet and better the quality of linens. They last longer with frequent washings and they hold their color better. So, we ended up with 600 thread count sheets for $43.99, a pretty good deal considering in any major department store these would have cost over $100.

A word on Egyptian Cotton: this is very high quality cotton grown in the very rich Nile River Valley in Egypt. The fertile ground provides a really rich crop and then is woven into luxurious fabric. 100% EC sheets are super expensive, so if you see a "cheap" set of EC sheets, make sure you read the label. Just because they say Egyptian Cotton, does not mean they are 100%, it could be a blend, which is fine, but don't pay for 100% when you only get a blend.

To sum it up, the higher thread count, the better, but anything over 1000 is kind of ridiculous and unnecessary. And, read the label to EC sheets, you do not want to get taken for a ride and pay too much for semi-luxe sheets.