Ruminating on this sort of thing tends to be my norm, though. When I was a kid I would be so nervous every time I got around those aggregate driveways, sidewalks, pool surrounds, etc. They were so horrible to fall on and they not only hurt, but the worst offenders had loose rocks that would make these craters in your skin and really press cuts deeper into you. Besides, the texture always made me think of bad acne. I’d get nervous because I wouldn’t be able to go ahead and know and prepare that the next fall was going to happen on X day at X o’clock. I would have to stumble and find out. When people die I always think about what they were doing a week before. Someone eating a tuna salad sandwich seven days before they croak is unsettling to me. Death and I only play well together when it gets an audition, dress rehearsal, opening night, reviews, and a full season to follow; that last performance then has some dignity to it.

About three weeks ago my boyfriend mentioned I should start taking creatine as a supplement to my workouts. I don’t care how many times a piece of information is presented to me, there are two ways to get me to immediately try something new: seeing a stranger from TikTok make a non-sponsored video with way too much information, or you could just have my boyfriend suggest it. Naturally, I then decided to move creatine onto the “urgent” portion of my to-do list. I was working in New Orleans at the time and decided to head to Vibrant Market, a great little shop on Magazine, and peruse my options. I decided on unflavored, a jar with a scoop rather than single dose packets, and under $50 for a month’s supply. When I got home a few days later, I put some in my water after the gym. My review? It tasted like Sweet ‘N Low and water. So that got a no from me, but it did get a yes for tea. TEA. What an inspired idea, I thought. I usually brew it every week or so and keep it in the fridge, especially in the summer, but this year has been so busy my routine has fallen by the wayside. My favorite way to have tea is unsweetened black tea over ice with Sweet ‘N Low. Second best is unsweet over ice. Never give me straight up sweet tea. It makes your breath stink. And much like my preference for Diet Coke over the real thing, I like to go for the healthier option that still kills you.

Anyway, back to my inspired idea and revitalized routine. A day or two after my sweet water, on a grocery run, I walked past a great Mason-jar pitcher with a spout at the base for twenty bucks. Now, wouldn’t that be great for all this tea I’m going to be making? Sure, I’ll bite. Into the buggy and through the woods, to my house we go. After putting away my groceries, watering the garden, and taking the trash out, I was really feeling productive. Might as well go ahead and clean that pitcher since we have that big tea making day tomorrow, I figured. I put on some music, turned on the hot water, and got to scrubbing that thing. Not thirty seconds into washing this thing the spout plops right out into my drain and along with it a few healthy puddles of red, then a thick stream. Surprise!

For a moment I thought about stitches, but I try to stay away from ERs if I can due to an incident with a paper cut and too strong of an Adderall prescription when I was in college. We’d have to do it the old fashioned way: rubbing alcohol, gauze, band-aids, and painters tape. Plus a glove for good measure. It stopped bleeding three days later. You never know when your next cut is going to be and I got a doozy. To add insult to injury, the next day I found an old pitcher in my cabinets and made the iced tea and put a scoop of creatine into it. It was fine, B-.

There’s a certain weird sense of security I fall into after something like this happens and that’s the danger zone. You think you’re safe. Life served up a big one so I must be in the clear for a bit. That’s rarely how it works. After that little dishwashing snafu, I enjoyed a nice weekend. Friday night I had drinks and dinner with my parents who were visiting. They brought the dog— my one-eyed Frenchie who now lives with them— and he stayed with me. Saturday morning we went on a walk, got All-Stars at Waffle House, and then worked on schemes for their new house. After they left I smoked some of the best weed I’ve had in a long time, had a great workout, did a little antiquing, palmed through a few books, folded laundry, and made dinner. Sunday was just as good. Monday was productive and my week started off with a glimmer. The sky felt more blue somehow and the heat wasn’t so bad. I wore cashmere socks and white cotton pants. My cut was scabbed over and didn’t sting when I washed my hands.

Tuesday, Dolly Parton died, which of course matters to everyone. I think this is the first collective emotional experience we’ve had since those last few weeks of March 2020. Even that is not a great example because we weren’t all on the same page about that one. With Dolly, I don’t know anyone who didn’t at least say “Aww.” Dolly Parton has been someone that I have felt a weird connection to my entire life. I don’t even love saying it feels weird because it feels somewhat clandestine. We have the same birthday— January 19th. So Dolly and I are both cusps to boot! A few hours later and one of us could have ended up in East Berlin. All respect to January 20th Aquariuses, of course. “Two Doors Down”, “Busy Signal”, “Gonna Hurry (As Slow as I Can)”, “When Someone Wants to Leave”, “Lonely Comin’ Down”, and, of course, “Here You Come Again” are some of the essential songs of my life, just to name a few. The work ethic, the philanthropy, the pride in her roots, all deeply inspirational to me, as it is to most. When someone like that goes on, it’s not that their light has gone out, it’s that their light is now your responsibility to carry. It’s not good enough to be inspired anymore (was it ever?), you either tap into that energy, that light, or you let their life be something shiny you liked to just look at once upon a time.

Yesterday, Wednesday, my one-eyed frenchie, Bodhi, died. Over the weekend I noticed a thick, tender lump on his ear. He was having it removed and never woke up from his mild sedation. Bodhi turned 9 last Thursday; in the heat of our virtual birthday celebration I had gotten blood all over my phone screen while I was scrolling through my camera roll looking for pictures of him to send in the family group chat, my pitcher-cut being fresh and all. Bodhi, as my friend Kate and I put it, was one of the last pillars of my youth still standing. I’ve been through a lot of “phases”, let’s call them, and even though Bodhi lived with my parents for the majority of his life, he was one of the few phases that stuck. I do not need to explain that I did, in fact, love my dog. I loved my dog. I love my dog. There was a period of my life where my relationship with my parents needed mending, and Bodhi was our unexpected olive branch. He came into my life with two things: a missing eye and a name; Bodhi, from Sanskrit referencing the final state of understanding that ends the cycle of rebirth and leads to Nirvana. Fitting.

Sometimes it feels like the universe, God, life, whoever, has taken the opposing side and you’re left on the defense. The best part of thinking about life like this is that it’s wrong. Have you ever practiced tennis with a ball machine? That’s about as good of a visual I can conjure for my outlook on life. I’m sure there’s a robotic one Elon Musk has up his sleeve that’ll kill my whole metaphor one day, but for now think about one of those semi-low tech ball machines your tennis club had. It shoots tennis balls out at slightly different speeds and maybe even shoots a bit to the left or right. All in all, there’s no arguing with the fact that that machine is both fair and indifferent. That’s life, constantly serving up the same thing in different ways: experiences. You either hit the ball or you don’t, you either attempt to run after it or you don’t, you may even get hit right in the crotch, but you are the one who decides which balls to chase, how hard to chase them, and which to let fly. You get to decide to enjoy the whole thing or not, to improve or not. Not every ball you hit is noteworthy one way or the other, either. Sometimes it’s just a B- unsweetened anecdote over ice. That’s fine, too. It’s the trying that counts. You can always stand there and exert no effort if you want, but pretty soon you’ll start to think that the ball machine has it out for you. Bodhi stayed with me Friday night and I wish I’d put him in the bed with me instead of his crate. Saturday morning I woke up late and cut his walk short. Did that lump on his ear even need to be removed? This is how you start thinking when you wish you had some control over the situation. Of course, there are three truths: there’s no Command+Z on time, things happen the way they’re meant to, and the only way out is through.

I’m still in shock, numb, about Bodhi. When my dad called to tell me what happened, I was confused because there was no way he was talking about our Bodhi, right? I still feel that way. Then there’s that male thing where we use substitute emotions to stay away from the big ones. I’m mad at myself for being sad and then I’m frustrated with myself for being mad at myself for being sad (the latter frustration would be considered “emotional maturity” for many men, which says a lot). Toni Morrison likened the substitute emotion problem to a cul-de-sac, one you get stuck looping round and round in until you finally let yourself feel a whole emotion, then you’re freed. I’ll get there, I always do. I didn’t get to say goodbye to Bodhi and I’ve already made peace with that. There was never going to be a good time to put him down, there was no way I would have ever said goodbye to him knowing it would be the last time; I’m not so sure I could have handled that. His death was a shock for us but for him it was totally peaceful. You don’t know the next time you’re going to cut yourself, thank God. It’s a surprise, a tennis ball hurled at you at full force. You just get to decide how you volley. As for now, I know this much about how I feel— a certain Dolly Parton song title spells it out best — Bodhi, I will always love you.

My present happens here, of course, but the house mostly feels like a museum of memories that’s acquiring new work. I know this place. Sure, I forget if some things came with the place or I put them in after I got here. The living room paint color is Drive Through Safari by Backdrop and my office is Studio Drab by Farrow and Ball; I always forget the name of the haint blue color on my porch ceiling but I know a Benjamin Moore I’d tried was called Marlboro and I thought that name was apt so I’ll usually just say that when people ask. The pea gravel in my container garden needs to be replaced, but when I first did that two summers ago I was so dehydrated that I spent the rest of the night and the following day laid up in the bed with a temperature of 102°. My decorator comes every other Tuesday to rearrange everything, clean and mop, then put about three-quarters of it back where it was. I hired her when the business started growing and I needed help keeping the (house)(office) spotless. The house just has some stains that’ll never come out and at a certain point that’s what you fall in love with. It’s not that you’re admiring the aesthetic sensibilities of chipped paint on the front door, it’s the fact that it’s my chipped paint on my front door and I know it’s there.. and if I change anything that’s mine, too. That’s the stuff you fall in love with. It’s the one-eyed pup I got for free that somehow became my new sibling. The sun is starting to set now and Bodhi is inside cooling down. I’m on the porch smiling while I think about how my parents used to call Bodhi a “city dog” after we realized he seemed happier every time he left the Delta and came back to Oxford.

This collection of (350+) helpful hints has been organized into the following sections:

1. In the Kitchen

2. Around the House

3. Adventures in Decorating

4. Party Time

5. Laundry Day

6. In the Garden

7. Everything but the Kitchen Sink

In the Kitchen:

Freeze wrappers from sticks of butter in a resealable bag after use. When a recipe calls for a greased pan in the future, just remove a wrapper from your stash and easily butter your dish.

Cut and place some drawer liner and put it under your cutting board to keep it from moving. A damp paper towel also works in a pinch but is not good for your wood over time.

Perfect rice every time… For every one cup of rice, use one and 1/4 cup of cold water, rinse rice until water is running clear, then add rice and your cold, measured water to a pot, crank up the heat, and once boiling turn to lowest heat, cover and wait 17 minutes. From Molly Baz.

Run your pantry/fridge/freezer like a restaurant does. Label everything with the name and date, and decant/downsize containers as you consume the things in them. Painters, tape, food safe containers, and a sharpie is really all you need.

If you’re roasting veggies that are a bit past their prime, add a little white sugar to your seasoning. I usually just do kosher salt, mustard powder, and a little sugar with olive oil. Fresh lemon juice and black pepper can be added after they are finished if appropriate. Overripe vegetables will taste fresher.

Use cold water rather than hot water to clean egg off cookware, bowls, silverware, etc. Eggs are very sensitive to temperature and hot water starts to (or continues to, if you’ve already cooked them) cook egg onto surfaces.

To get the smell of garlic off your hands... disclaimer - I’ve never found the stainless steel trick to really work.. rinse hands with cold water, then lather with soap, then rinse with warm water. Old trick from Julia Child.

Cut broccoli and cauliflower from the stem, not the head, so that you don’t have little tiny pieces falling out all over the place. Much, much cleaner.

Do not pour hot oil down the drain. I know it is tempting because you want to get the smell out and clean up started. The easiest thing to do is line a bowl with aluminum foil and pour the hot oil in; once it hardens pull foil out, roll into a ball, and toss.

Fresh herbs last longer in the fridge wrapped in a paper towel. The exception is basil.. it is better to store this upright in a glass of water not in the refrigerator. if you’re not going to use them up by about 10 days of being wrapped up, chop the herbs fine, put into an ice tray, and cover with olive oil. Then place in the freezer for easy, pre-portioned future use.

If you don’t have an instant read thermometer handy (by now why would you not) you can tell if a roast chicken is done by poking the thigh with a knife- if the juices that come out are totally clear.. you’re good. Cover with foil and let rest for 10 minutes before serving

Easiest way to line a pan (especially a cake, bunt, or loaf pan) with foil is to flip the pan upside down and mold the foil onto the bottom, then turn over and just set in.

Zesting citrus is not a back and forth motion. When you zest any pith (the white part underneath) it goes bitter. You should make a pass, turn the citrus to an unzested spot, and repeat.

Everyone knows the first piece of pie to come out is the worst because it’s so hard to get out. If the pie is made in a foil pie tin, you can easily never have this happen to you again. Slice the first piece as normal, then take scissors and cut the pie tin itself at either slice (at the angle as if the slices were extended through the tin), then just pull that little side of foil down flat and easily slide the first piece out. Ta da!

If you don’t have an herb stripper (most people don’t and I don’t want one) - you can just pull woody herbs like rosemary and thyme through one of the holes of your box grater and more or less get the same result.

If you have food seriously cooked (or burnt, no judgment), onto the interior of pans, or a colorful tomato/curry sauce has stained your dishes, soak them in warm water and non-chlorine bleach for about half an hour, then clean is normal with dish soap and water. Saves elbow grease and keeps you from scarring your dishes and pans.

Cast iron is actually made differently today than it was in the past, so the belief that you absolutely cannot put soap on them is outdated. For purists, scrub your cast iron pan after cooking with a damp cloth and baking soda or kosher salt to form a mild abrasive paste, rinsing and repeating as necessary. Dry very well. If the pan loses its luster, preheat the oven to 400°, rub a touch of neutral oil (not olive oil) all over the pan, and place a pan inside for about an hour. After that, allow it to sit and cool in the oven overnight.

Clean a microwave by placing a cup of water and a cup of vinegar in a 16 ounce glass measuring cup in the microwave until boiling, and then let sit for about 4 to 5 minutes. Carefully take out the measuring cup, then remove the turntable and base, and wipe the interior clean as well as any parts you removed. The steam helps caked on food/grease come off with little effort. The vinegar deodorizes.

Fluffy, rich scrambled eggs don’t come from adding tons of fat like cream or milk before cooking, they’re actually best by whisking water and kosher salt and well with your eggs then cooking on medium heat.

If you don’t have buttermilk handy and a recipe calls for it, add about a half tablespoon of white vinegar per cup of whole milk and let sit for at least 10 to 15 minutes before using. It’ll do.

If you need self-rising flour but don’t have any on hand - for every one cup of all-purpose flour, whisk in two tablespoons of baking powder and a pinch of salt. It’s the same.

If you need cake flour and don’t have any... for each cup of all-purpose flour, remove two tablespoons and replace it with two tablespoons of cornstarch. Whisk together et voila.

Raise the burning temperature of butter by adding oil in with it before you cook.

Sometimes if you’re making a vinaigrette / sauce... the missing ingredient may not be salt, vinegar, or honey. Often what’s missing is dilution. Add a touch of water and see if that balances things before you reach for more salt.

Flipping food in a pan is a horizontal motion, not a vertical toss. Quickly push the pan forward, then pull directly back.

Cookware sets are a scam. The pots are scaled down to sizes that are always just slightly off. They also include lids in their “pieces” count to trick you. Make your own set and buy for life. Here it is:

• 1x Cast iron skillet 12” - Lodge

• 1x Nonstick pan 10” - All Clad

• 1x Dutch oven (no less than 5qt capacity) - I prefer LC to Staub because of the light colored interior

• 1x Saucier - All Clad

• 2x Half Sheet Pan - Nordic Ware

• Ix Ceramic Casserole Dish- Staub

• A note: Start with this and expand as needed. Yes, I think a saucier is more useful than a saucepan - you can still make boxed mac and cheese in a dutch oven or a saucier. It’s more important that you have something with a rounded bottom in this “set” somewhere- why not let it do double duty!

If you substitute dried herbs in place of fresh in a recipe, reduce the amount by a third.

People think cast iron is a fast conductor of heat, this isn’t true. It’s a really slow conductor.. What’s great about that, though, is that the inverse is true… It holds heat and takes a while to cool. If you’re using cast iron and feel like things aren’t blackening, crisping, etc - remember to preheat for at least 5-10 minutes before using, and get your heat up. Makes a world of difference in your food’s texture.

Easiest way to peel boiled eggs: let them cool, then tap the top and bottom on the countertop, and roll the egg across a paper towel with gentle pressure. Usually comes off in one or two pieces.

A little lemon or lime juice on cut bananas will keep them from browning. If you don’t want to add any lemon flavor, cut with a silver knife... will work but not as well. Same goes for avocados.

There’s really no reason to wash meat. Controversial for some reason but this is true.... Some studies show that washing meat ends up spraying more contaminants across the entire kitchen via water droplets. Moisture is the enemy with all meat. dry it very well with paper towels, then kosher salt liberally, and rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Don’t be scared to turn your heat up and get a good sizzle going.

The best remedy for crying while cutting onions is a sharp knife. If you can barely cut into an onion without your eyes burning, your knives need sharpening.

If you’re cutting garlic, wetting the blade beforehand makes the stickiness much more manageable.

Icings that use powdered sugar as the base are much easier to make, but they harden and crack as they sit. Adding a pinch of baking powder mitigates this.

Store cheese wedges in an airtight container with a sugar cube. The sugar cube will absorb moisture and keep the cheese from sweating.

Not to be Rachael Ray but... use a trash bowl. Keep your counters clear. Take a large serving bowl (go find something you actually don’t mind looking at so you’ll use it) and as you chop, take out produce bags, trim meats, etc - throw everything into the bowl that’s right in front of you on the counter and empty the bowl once it’s full. Saves you from messy counters and constant stopping to put something in the trash.

For citrus, if you need juice, select lemons and lines with smoother skin that are smaller and more round. These tend to have more juice and more flavor. For zest or peels, use the football shaped ones with regular bumpy skin since they are larger and yield more zest.

Homemade mayonnaise is easy + delish. I use the vitamix. Here’s how:

• Into a blender, add 2 whole eggs, I tsp malt vinegar, I tsp Dijon, and a good pinch of kosher salt. Blend well until mixed.

• Slowly add (drizzle little by little) in one cup of vegetable oil and process - it will not come together until the end!!

• You can add cayanne pepper or a final tablespoon of truffle oil, etc to flavor.

• Keeps for about 5-6 days in fridge.

Microwave lemons or limes for about 20 seconds and give them a gentle roll before juicing - you’ll get twice the juice as you would straight from the fridge.

If you want to delay the ripening of your avocados, don’t store them on the counter. Store them in the fridge.

The more finely you cut garlic, the more intense the flavor is. Depending on how long it cooks and the sharpness of your knife, you should be able to control the intensity of the “burn” and sweetness by just the size of your cuts.

You need a KitchenCalc. Easy to find online. They make working off of a recipe a breeze - you can scale a recipe for, say, six to just one serving or to 5,000 servings. Convert between metric versus imperial, weight versus volume, teaspoons versus cups, etc.

To keep leftover cake from drying out, cover the “open” edges by affixing a piece of white bread to each exposed side with a toothpick. Will stay moist for days.

Don’t use nonstick spray in a nonstick pan. Either use oil, butter, or nothing. Over time the layers of additional chemicals in nonstick spray can build up and decrease the nonstick-ability of the pan.

Popcorn (the real stuff) keeps fresh indefinitely in the freezer. The science is that kernels “pop” once the water inside the kernel heats and turns to vapor. If popcorn stays in the pantry, over time the water content diminishes/dries out. The freezer will keep it as fresh as the day you buy it.

To keep things like tea, soy sauce, cream, etc from dripping down the side of your pitcher (and onto your tablecloth) smear a little butter under the lip of the pitcher.

Rid your kitchen of the smell of fish after cooking by placing a lemon in the oven at 350° for 15 minutes with the oven door slightly open (as if you were doing a quick broil)

The natural way to reduce ants in your kitchen is to keep fresh sage growing on the counter.

If you need to melt butter in the microwave, place some of the wrapper over the top of the bowl to insulate and keep from exploding everywhere inside.

If you have lemons or limes that are looking worse for wear, juice them, strain, and freeze in ice trays for pre-portioned future use.

Keep baking soda near the stove in an attractive covered pot. Doesn’t have to be very large. Pouring baking soda can act as a first defense against grease fires (and puts most small ones out) and buy you time to get out/use the fire extinguisher if needed-which is more than likely not next to the stove in your house.

One of the best things you can do for yourself in the kitchen is have a cup full of spoons at the ready. Good for tasting, stirring small quantities, drizzling, etc...I just picked up mismatched silver spoons every time I saw them for a few months and ended up with a good number. Don’t have anything precious or that you overly care about, but have them attractive enough to sit out on the counter so they can actually be used. Stolen from Ina Garten..

Lazy cake decorating...Homemade cakes (and cupcakes) always dome... professional bakeries usually cut these tops off to have flat, level layers. At home, immediately when out of the oven, take another cake (or cupcake) pan out, set on top, and press down. Easier and cleaner than cutting off the dome of a cake. Then, flip upside down for even flatter layers.

Start boiling potatoes in cold water rather than adding them when the water is hot. If you start in hot water you’ll find that your potatoes don’t seem done for quite a while and the edges turn gummy once the center is cooked. This is caused by the outside absorbing heat faster than the middle, which makes for uneven texture.

Run cold water out of your tap while you pour something hot into the sink (like when straining pasta) to reduce the amount of steam that rises.

I hate skimming the fat on soups, stews, etc but sometimes it really is necessary. Lazy way to do it: lay a really cold, crisp piece of lettuce flat on top for a few seconds and remove. Pop in the freezer for a second before. It really will absorb a good portion… more so than ice. Any fat still left can be easily removed with a spoon or you can repeat if there’s a serious amount still left (in that case you probably missed a step in your recipe.)

Recipes usually call for a tablespoon of tomato paste at a time... unless you use the squeeze tubes, it’ll come in a can - so annoying to open a can for one tablespoon. You can freeze the remainder of the can in an ice tray, that way these are pre-portioned amounts (usually a tablespoon as well) that are ready to use. No waste.

If you store plastic wrap in the fridge or freezer it won’t stick to itself when you go to use it

Put a piece of chalk in with your silverware drawer to mitigate any tarnishing.

Make your own vanilla extract! Minimum two vanilla beans per cup of vodka or rum – let sit for six months at least. As you use it just replenish it with more alcohol. Great gift.

If you over salt a soup or sauce-peel a raw potato and cut into 2-3 large pieces and continue cooking. They will absorb some of the salinity without imparting flavor. Remove when they’ve begun to get soft.

For baking, if you need room temp eggs and you forgot to set them out just cover completely in a container with warm tap water & close the lid. Within 15-20 minutes they’ll be room temp.

People who complain that their pasta sticks together after cooking are probably not adding enough water. The concentration of starches in too small of an amount of water can cause pasta to get clumpy after it cooks. (This is not the case for things like potatoes, fyi) Increase the size of your pot and the amount of water you cook with.)

Don’t waste money on a roasting pan if you’d only use it once or twice a year. They simply exist to raise the bird so all sides are exposed - bunch a few pieces of foil underneath the turkey and cook on a sheet pan.

Run out of oven space/don’t have a warming drawer? Coolers can insulate and keep food hot. Place a dish towel in the bottom of a cooler and stack pans on top of one another - each layer separated by dish towels.

Spray a little PAM or rub oil on a grater if you’re grating something that creates residue like cheese, butter, etc.

Run warm water over eggs before you boil them so the temperature shock doesn’t cause some to crack

You can prep salads in advance with the dressing without them becoming wilted. Wash and dry ingredients well then prep them. Make the dressing in the bottom of your serving bowl (or just pour in if you’re using something pre-made). Then place all ingredients on top. Toss whenever you’re ready to serve. Let the salad stay a pretty mindless part of the cooking process.

Wipe measuring spoons with a touch of oil on a paper towel when measuring honey, syrup, etc …. It pours much easier

Around the House:

When your dishwasher finishes the cycle, hang a kitchen towel on the door and close until ready to put away. At a baseline, it signals to anyone in the house that the dishes are clean. Most of all, the kitchen towel absorbs most of the residual steam, and helps glasses, dishes, and pots have more brilliance and no water spots.

Minor scuffs and scratches on wood floors and furniture can be rubbed over with a walnut (yes a walnut) and the problem is solved. It’s the oil in the nut that is absorbed by the wood.

Reduce flies, mosquitoes, etc coming into your house by spritzing your interior exterior door frames with a 50/50 solution of pine sol and water.

If you have a slow drain but no time to get Draino, 2-3 Alka Seltzers and some very hot water can work in a pinch.

Fix a squeaky hinge without WD40 by simply rubbing some Vaseline on it.

Keep a few old wine corks on hand to cut & use for wobbly furniture.

If you spill on a book and pages get wet, slide paper towels between the pages that are damp and close the book. This mitigates warping. Act fast, don’t just let pages dry stuck together, or they’ll rip when you try to pull them apart.

Easy ant killer… Create a solution with a . cup of sugar, 1 cup of warm water, and 1 tablespoon of borax. Leave out.

The easiest way to polish matches of silverware or wine glasses is with a coffee filter. They are lint free and flexible.

Get white rings out of furniture by putting Vaseline on top and letting sit 24 hours- then buff out.

Scarred porcelain and scratched enamel can be helped marginally by soaking in a 1:2 ratio of acetone and water. I wouldn’t do this for valuable antiques or anything painted.

Remove dents left by furniture in rugs/carpets by placing ice cubes on top of the indentation and let them melt/dry. Repeat as necessary.

Mayonnaise polishes furniture really well. Put a small amount on a cloth and apply until a thin layer is all over. Let sit for a few hours and then buff off with a microfiber cloth. This sounds nuts but it works…

Unless you’re dealing with nicks in very light wood, Old English Furniture Polish is the way to go. It camouflages most scratches to the point where you can’t even remember where they were.

If you need an abrasive, but are worried about the scratches – a paste of baking soda, and a little water is first line defense

Clean your blender day to day by just blending hot water and a touch of soap, then rinse it out. If you blended something particularly fragrant, add some vinegar too.

Your dishwasher has a filter. It should be soaked in vinegar, hot water, and dish detergent monthly to prolong the life of your dishwasher.

Sometimes the solution for cleaning (especially in kitchens and bathrooms) is not to use stronger and stronger products. If grime is persistent, simply plug in your steamer and apply gentle steam before using your regular cleaning aids. Of course, things like steam mops exist, but most people (myself included) don’t want to invest in that + don’t want to store them.

If you notice a red wine spill on carpet/ upholstery after it’s dried or simply didn’t get to it in time, it can feel like it’ll never come out since you didn’t get to blot it. Funny enough- one of the best ways to get it out in this scenario is to wet the stain with a little white wine and then dab the spot continuously as you would if it were fresh. If there’s still a stain left, continue with a basic stain treatment (cool water + a little dish soap & white vinegar)

No need to buy multi-surface cleaners. An everyday household cleaner that’s good for pretty much any surface can be made with 1 cup water and 1 tablespoon of dishwashing liquid in a spray bottle

Use a lint roller to regularly dust lampshades and upholstered headboards

To clean a ceiling fan without getting dust everywhere below- slide the blades of the fan into an old/inexpensive pillowcase and wipe. The pillowcase will hold all debris and can be easily emptied, laundered, and used again.

Clean out remnants from spice or coffee grinders by running a cycle of white rice through.

No microfiber cloths available? Coffee filters work just as well, or better, for lint-free cleaning.

Bee’s Wax cleaner is the best glass cleaner you can buy. Fantastic for windows.

Classically, the snow is a good place to clean rugs. Lay face down in clean snow, beat the hell out of it, move to a new plot, and repeat as needed. Debris should fall out and the cold should reinvigorate and fluff the fibers.

Soot turns to sledge when wet… The most effective way to clean it from your fireplace is using the scrub brush tool on your vacuum and a dry scouring pad

Wipe down baseboards with dryer sheets after dusting them so that future dust is repelled and you’ll have to clean them less frequently.

Microwave sponges for 1 minute to sanitize. You can also throw some of them in the dishwasher.

Use a seam ripper to easily clean up the roller head of your vacuum if it is clogged with hair, threads, etc.

Get pet hair off fabrics easily by dampening rubber gloves with water and grazing over upholstery, curtains, clothes, etc. with your hands. Sometimes this is much quicker than a lint roller or upholstery vacuum

Wax will come right off candlesticks, glass, and silver, by placing it in the freezer for a bit.

If wax is stuck to fabric, lay a paper towel over the wax, then place a dish towel over the paper towel and gently iron on a low setting, wax should adhere to the paper towel and peel right off.

Sometimes the power of your cleaning lives in the applicator, not the cleaning product itself. For example, products used to clean chrome need to be wiped with a microfiber cloth (or coffee filter) to look polished, it will always be slightly streaky if not.

To remove stuck on adhesive or annoying price stickers on non-porous items… rub some body lotion all over the sticker and wait about 20 minutes before removing. Wipe away… works like a charm.

To get adhesive off of a porous or delicate material, try putting a hair dryer on low heat over top of the item and pull off. For a really delicate fabric or other material, try bloating with a little vodka and dish soap.

When in doubt, use Nevr-Dull to polish. Works well for pretty much all materials and is easy to use.

Sometimes you’re not dealing with water spots or tarnishing after all; you’re dealing with mineral buildup from either hard water or never cleaning the appliance itself. This is evident in endlessly white, cloudy glasses that almost feel like there’s a thin layer of cornstarch on them (my sensory hell!!!) You can stop this by running a cycle or two on your hottest setting and pouring in liquid citric acid in place of your detergent (sold online.) From here on out, use a good rinse aid with your normal cycles.

Clean stainless steel with the grain, using a dry microfiber, wipe or coffee filter for day-to-day, fingerprints and smudges

While a dishwand, the kind that dispenses soap into the sponge attached, is kind of the most frustrating thing in the world for cleaning dishes… they are fantastic for cleaning your tub and shower. Fill with dish soap and a mild bathroom cleaner and scrub away.

Removing red wine from white clothes or light colored upholstery is easy. First press a dry towel into the stain immediately. Once it’s as dry as possible (you can wait until the next morning, don’t ruin a good party) make a paste of water with oxygen bleach, like OxiClean, and use a toothbrush to tamp in, let sit, rinse away, and repeat until removed.

So many ways to polish silver. A favorite shortcut: a Mr. Clean sponge dipped in Connoisseur’s silver jewelry cleaner. Rub all over your piece of silver, rinse and repeat as needed. Use a very soft toothbrush in the same manner for any detail work. Dry well. Smell is less than ideal, but it’s immediate gratification with little effort/cleanup.

Twinkle silver polish kit. Once you have done your initial polishing, & gotten a good result… Let your final polish be with Twinkle. It really does make silver shine and resists tarnish. Inexpensive and can be found online.

People are often using chemicals/products that are way too strong for routine cleaning. For mopping up wood floors regularly, warm water and baking soda (1 tablespoon per 2 cups of water) will suffice, and shine your floors without being slick.

Keep baby wipes on hand for blotting stains on clothing and upholstery/drapery fabrics… They are low moisture and free of harsh chemicals, so they work for pretty much everything.

Make your own Bar Keepers Friend to polish pan/stainless steel: mix together one cup baking soda, a half cup kosher salt, and a half cup borax. When you go to use, add just enough water to make a thick paste and scrub. Wear gloves and be as careful as you would with the real stuff.

Red wine and dish soap left out in a bowl attracts and traps fruit flies.

Scrub chrome or stainless steel shower heads with shaving cream and a sponge to clean and shine.

Generally, I am not a big lucite/acrylic furniture person. Has to be just right and usually vintage. But! Plastic cleaner and plastic polish exist - use the products with a microfiber cloth to clean your acrylic rather than glass or multi-surface cleaner. The difference is impressive.

For dusting a painting, it’s best to use a photographer’s blower brush. Easy to find online. Feather dusters & microfiber cloths still have too much opportunity to snag and slowly break off whole brushstrokes over time.

True lacquer furniture should be dusted then cleaned with Turtle Wax (marketed for cars) to prolong the finish.

Clean flags by soaking overnight in cold water with detergent and oxygen bleach. To dry, toss in dryer on low heat for a short cycle, pull while still damp, and hang on the flagpole immediately. The wind will take care of wrinkles.

After washing, slipcovers should be put back on furniture while still slightly damp to reduce wrinkles (plus- easier to get back on)

Drawers antique pieces that are difficult to open and close need a light sanding and tightened hardware. In a pinch or to mitigate until you have time to deal with it, just rub a bar of soap across all the unfinished! sides and the bottom of the drawer

Prolong the life of your rug by spot cleaning with cold or room temp club soda. Dab - do not scrub. Harsh chemicals can break down dyes and fibers over time.

To get a scent out of upholstery - sprinkle with baking soda and let sit for several hours. Vacuum the entire piece when done.

Clean grout with OxiClean, Arm & Hammer toothpaste, and a toothbrush.

Leather upholstery should be kept at least 2 feet from air vents and/or dehumidifiers to prevent drying out and cracking over time. Clean regularly with just a dry microfiber cloth.

Do not spray clean rush and cane. Unless the piece is very dirty and you’re cleaning for the first time (and even then, it’s probably best to just replace), you do not want to get these materials wet regularly especially if they’re expected to hold any weight or pressure. Vacuum and that’s all.

Use a little bit of mineral oil, beeswax spray, or even Vaseline to wipe curtain rods I-2 times a year & keep rings from dragging. White Lithium Grease works wonders as well.

Easiest way to get stubborn cat or dog hair off of a wool rug is to wet a mop with clean water, wring out entirely (to the point it’s almost dry), and slowly drag across rug stopping to rinse, replace water, and repeat.

Prevent water marks on chrome taps by rubbing gently with a white votive candle and then buffing that in with a microfiber cloth. Water will run off rather than leave spots.

If you’re buying second hand china that you actually want to use, look carefully for any matte white lines- this is where repairs have been made and the seams are painted over. Pass on it unless you’re looking to just display the piece- the glue will deteriorate over time from washing.

If you spill paint or nail polish, dump lots of salt on top and after a few minutes it will begin to solidify- all the excess can be easily picked up in time for you to wipe away the residue.

A lot of dishwashers are not made to handle pods placed in the detergent compartment. Detergent pods are wrapped in a type of plastic that can clog up the machine if not fully dissolved. They should be tossed directly into the dishwasher or placed in the silverware holder unless your machine was designed to handle them in the detergent compartment.

Clean headphones by wiping with a lint free cloth made slightly damp with a little ammonia. Disinfects and breaks down wax gross but real!) After that, take a clean, dry toothbrush and gently brush out any dirt and debris stick in the mesh.

For really stubborn limescale build up- try scrubbing the area with a wet penny. Sounds strange but when it works it really works.

Nail brushes are great for cleaning things other than your nails. Use a nail brush to clean your lambswool or feather dusters, brooms, hair brushes, air registers, etc. They’re inexpensive- buy several to have one for each use. Can be cleaned and reused indefinitely. I especially like the ones sold by Lee Valley since they’re so fine.

Adventures in Decorating:

Keep lampshades level by placing a washer between the finial and the lampshade fitting.

“Reupholster” is to take furniture down to its base and rework it as a whole. “Recover” is to simply change the upholstery fabric/trim. This can save money and time.

Hire your designer when you hire your architect. Make sure they share in a ethos or at least respect each other’s

From Rita Konig: realize that in decorating some items are best purchased with the budget money… Where you may save for a period of time to get something really great… And some things are better spent with “purse money”… Skip the random impulse purchase and get a good lampshade, etc.

Pinterest and Instagram are great tools but there are three reasons designers pull you off of them.

Lighting conditions: your inspiration images will never have the same light as your space. Treat them as a guide post not a blueprint.

There are a million great ideas that could work visually. Get a sense of generally what you’re attracted to, then get off line and go out and look for it!

A lot of times it’s just a great photo. Start to dissect pictures, envision yourself in the round, and try to say exactly what details you like within the image. You’ll start to like less things……

Even if you don’t budget to execute a full landscaping plan immediately, you should hire your landscape architect with your architect and designer to develop a final plan to roll with as budget allows. It’s much nicer to have an interior that is already prime for what it will look out onto/openup, too, rather than feeling the interior and exterior are disjointed.

Make sure you’re never accidentally wearing blue light lenses when you’re deciding on colors, dyes, or fabrics, you’d be surprised how drastic the differences are. They filter out all blue light, not just light from your screens.

Interview a few designers before hiring one. We don’t get offended. Get a feel for how different firms will work with you and how they structure billing. Don’t expect to be able to just compare different peoples ideas for free, though. Initial ideas are just that; they won’t translate into a design until we know you and your project.

Cheetah print and tiger stripe are pretty neutral as long as they are within the same hue as the colors around them. Fun, hide stains, and work most anywhere in small doses. Personally, not a fan of animal print in bedrooms. Campy and a bit too on the nose.

From David Netto: Install triple hung windows if and when you have the chance - dramatic sense of scale that cannot be beat.

If you have an antique that has a strong smell in its drawers/cabinets that won’t come out with a box of baking soda- override it. Wrap reeds from a diffuser you’re finished with in tissue paper and slide one in all drawers/cabinets.. the piece will hang on to your new scent.

Barstools and Counter stools refer to height - they are not interchangeable terms. Bar stools mean bar height, usually closer to 36” seat height, while counter stools are for most islands and counters, with seat heights of 24-28”.

Try to budget in extra 15- 25% for accessory/odds and ends. You’ll be glad you did towards the end of your project. Not fun to look up and realize you’ve overspent and feel like you can’t have pillows made, artwork framed, beautiful objects, etc. Devil is in the details… Give them a proper budget.

Changes slow things down, trust speeds things up.

Remember that your designer’s vendor relationships far outlast a project timeline… They have to balance the relationship with their suppliers and their clients, especially when things go wrong.

Art is subjective, but there is a correct place for it to go.

If you have bookends you aren’t using in a bookcase, remember that bookends make great looking doorstops, which can be hard to find.

Sometimes things sound really luxurious or preferable, but that doesn’t mean they will work for you. The greatest luxury is being honest with yourself and enjoying that. Example: I hate fluffing pillows, I’m not into “the chop” look, and I usually like to sit more upright. This means for personal use, I really can’t stand 100% down filled pillows, I am team synthetic fill or 50/50 down-feather all the way. Being cool with what living well means to you is the luxury, not necessarily the items themselves.

Surround yourself with things you love and it’s all apt to work

Wake up stripes by applying a self welt on the bias for your cording. Provides interest without addition.

If you really are precious about a fabric you’re wanting turned into a dining tablecloth or skirted table, have the fabric sent to a finishing company to be treated for stain-proofing. Reputable finishing companies can usually add this without being detectable at all.

To me, fabric lampshades in a kitchen are a no no on pendants and sconces (i.e. hard-wired fixtures). They’re a total pain in the ass to clean and they are in a place where they really need to be cleaned. Plus, one big splatter or forgotten blender top and it’s all over. Metal and glass shades for the win in rooms like this. Table lamps are of course fine in the kitchen… Use them and lint roll the shades.

Here’s how we *ideally* make our clients’ beds (starting from the mattress):

• Mattress topper (optional)

• Fitted sheet

• Flat sheet (minimum amount tucked in at the bottom, most of the fabric up top), should be SEAM SIDE FACING YOU - made to size of silk blanket or slightly larger - depending on whether or not you have side rails on your bed or not.

• Duvet insert or down blanket

• Silk blanket (made slightly larger than your duvet/down blanket) Fold slack of flat sheet down to create an “envelope” that holds together the flat sheet, duvet, and silk blanket. This will have the pretty side of your flat sheet exposed which is why you do seam side facing you at first

• Blanket cover folded at bottom (optional)

• One silk pillowcase and one percale for each stack of sleeping pillows.

Personally, I always like 3 Euro shams across the back and then any decorative pillows in front.Some people prefer the duvet on top of all and that’s fine. In this kind of bed making you just may find that the bed looks pretty “flat” and all the fluff is at the bottom. If that’s how you’re most comfortable we don’t care.

Don’t fall victim to thread count marketing. Here’s a primer:

• It’s an unregulated term that in the day-to-day has zero indication of quality to people who actually need to pay attention to this information. All thread count really does is indicate breathability.

• The thread count number is derived from the total threads in a square inch of the vertical and horizontal weave. A higher number means the fabric is less breathable (less space between the threads) and a lower number is more breathable. 220 is about the lowest. Anything under 200 is technically muslin if it’s 100% cotton. -8oo is the most physically possible and is the least breathable. Any thread count over this is probably just short staple cotton and/or polyester mix to beef up the number. These will not last and will start to pill very quickly.

• Quality of cotton sheets is determined by two factors: cotton quality and weave. Look for long staple cotton (Egyptian is best) and Italian or Portuguese weaving. That’s not to say an American made product using long staple cotton isn’t high quality or desirable, but if that price isn’t sky high, you’re probably looking at a quality corner cut somewhere in the mix.

• So, in review: a 220 thread count sheet of long staple Egyptian cotton woven in Italy and a 600 thread count sheet of long staple Egyptian cotton woven in Italy is the exact same quality, one is just more breathable than another.

“Bandaids” are expensive. You are better off just saving for the right thing, rather than buying something with the intent to replace it with something better in the future. The sunk cost lingers and you end up living with lots of less-than-stellar things that grow tired & you never end up replacing. You also spend a lot of money putting placeholders everywhere only to feel like you end up with a house full of nothing! Be resourceful and sustainable – buy from auctions, estate, sales, and resellers. Splurge on upholstery, bed linens, and “the bones”. Let your house evolve… Enjoy the hunt! If you don’t enjoy the hunt, hire someone else to do it and be realistic about the budget.

It really takes time to finalize paint colors. Rule of thumb: look at the color in three different locations in three different lighting conditions. Make this easy on yourself by painting 16 x 16 drywall boards and moving them around over the course of a few days as the light/weather changes rather than painting all over different spots of your walls.

My favorite analogy for people who want to short change the decorating process: You’re going to an event next year where you’ll see an ex, and their new partner. You spend a whole year getting back in shape, consciously eating and working out, and you buy new clothes, shoes, and maybe even a nice bag and some jewelry. Then, the night of the event, you show up without brushing your teeth, washing your face, putting on any makeup, or doing your hair.

Good decorators are intuitive to how a pattern, object, artwork, or piece of furniture, affects the “cool factor” in a room. Sometimes you may not understand what we are suggesting until you see in final harmony. If you only heard the drums in your favorite song, you may not like it as much and start making changes, but once you hear all the instruments and vocals come together – you realize it was just right. That’s how you have to view design.

The most important part of a good design is editing. There are a million great ideas – pick a direction you really love, stick with it, and edit accordingly.

Believe it or not – when designers ask about budget, we’re not trying to figure out how much money we can squeeze out of you. We’re trying to read if your expectations for the project and allocated budget are in harmony.

When reviewing a design presentation, it may sometimes seem like a color, pattern, or texture is repeated too much. Try to remember that schemes on paper or not scale to an entire project so once it is installed, it’ll all read as harmony, not excessive repetition.

Many designers don’t give out names of paint colors not because they are being stingy, but because they don’t want to be responsible if you don’t like the color in your space… it will change. I will happily share the names of paints if I can remember them, but seriously, use them as a starting point, not a roadmap. Fun fact: some publications actually have paint manufacturers look at the images post-editing, and then list a color into the description based on what’s closest to the photo, not what is actually on the walls.

Make a Pinterest board or cut and paste images of rooms/details you do not like. Sometimes this can be more informative to your team than lackluster descriptors. You may say “I don’t like super traditional houses” when a stock pile of reject images may reveal you really just mean you don’t love chance and Louis XIV furniture.

“New, old, black, gold” is a good baseline checklist for balance/interest in a room. Room essentials: modern elements, antique pieces, something dark and commanding, and something reflective/metallic. Of course, scale, lighting, artwork, etc. are essential, but this outage can help you begin to figure out where your balance may be off. From Mad About the House.

Your designer is facing this catch-22 more often than you think: Do we try to save money by going to a lower quality vendor and pray they don’t make a mistake… or… Do we try to sell the client on the best vendor for the job and adjust the budget accordingly? Guess which one we’d prefer… Expensive fabric to a cheap pillow maker is a risk I really don’t wanna take… Keep your quality of material and quality of labor consistent.

Paint is the first part of a decorating plan that you actually see put up. Remember that things come into the room and enhance/change these colors. Don’t be tempted to go back on your plan unless you are really certain it’s just plain wrong.

All designers charge differently. We decide what works best for our business model and what clients are comfortable with, and this can change over time! Each project has its own needs, and therefore its own specific rates. I believe in transparency, so for Beep’s full-service design structure, product and design fees are flat rates, and hourly isn’t typically charged in a significant amount until procurement begins. When you are interviewing designers, it’s important to be honest with yourself as a client about what would make you the most comfortable.

There’s a difference between something being bad, and something being “quiet.” Think about it like writing! It feels almost manic to write sentences with all exclamations! There’s no reason for it! No ideas are able to stand out on their own! Not everything in a room has to be your most favorite thing, or even a statement. Some things just work fine. Plain and simple. Again, trust……

All shades of green can work together. Look at nature for color inspiration, and you will see that all types of green can live in harmony in a way that other colors just do not. Don’t be overly fussy when decorating with green.

If you are strict on timeline, you have to be flexible on budget. If you are strict on budget, you have to be flexible on timeline.

If you’re having trouble visualizing the scale of a wallpaper or fabric pattern and a larger sample is not available, request a second (and third, if needed) sample and space them the distance of the patterns repeat… You can also place this directly wherever you’re considering using the pattern. It’ll be much easier to picture.

If you want to use a pattern fabric with a wider width/large repeat for pillows and are struggling to decide what part of the pattern you want on each side, cut a square hole in butcher paper or thin cardboard that is the size of the pillow you want and use it to move around & frame various sections of your pattern

Blue tape walk-throughs with your contractor should really be purple tape walk-throughs. Purple painters tape is for delicate surfaces and won’t damage wallcoverings and paint. Once a final finish has been applied, make sure the only painter’s tape on site is for a delicate surface.

Offset flooring changes between rooms by the measurement of the thickness of the door, so that it is seamless between rooms. Remember, the floor materials must be the same height for this to be effective.

Different brands call light temperatures different things. Soft white at one company is warm white at another… And so on. The thing to look at is Kelvin level, which is usually listed on the front of the box. The higher the number, the cooler the light. 2400, 2700, and 3000 are best for residential depending on lampshade color and/or application. Whatever you do – stay consistent in your lighting color choice.

When you’re balancing light temperature in a room, remember that you may need to counterbalance, based on the color of your lampshade too. Example, if you’re most comfortable at night in your living room with lamp on at 2700K color temp you may need to put 2400K bulbs in a lamp with a blue or cool white lampshade to give off a similar light you’d see coming through your basic cream shade on the same lamp with a 2700K bulb in it.

One of the pillars of lighting design is to light surfaces and objects rather than just blanketing a space.

A lot of people don’t realize this, but sometimes it’s not your lampshade that’s the wrong size, it’s your harp. These are easily changed and not expensive. Picking out lampshades is kind of like picking out jeans though, you need to go in and see in person.

Curtains are expensive, plain and simple. If the budget is tight, pick the fabric you can afford the most generous amount of and line them properly. If you have to forego another fabric you really love to stay in budget, you have several options: save your money for what you want, do split panels where the top of the curtain panel is a less expensive corresponding fabric & the bottom third of the panel is the more expensive fabric, have a pillow, lampshade, table skirt, etc. made, or, and this only works for some prints, make into a tape trim.

If you want to add another pattern to a room, but a lot is already happening in your “mix”, go with a plain stripe as a breath of fresh air. Works for all styles.

Easiest way to make a room feel cozy – layering light sources at three different heights: high, mid, low.

• High, well above eye level, should be the dimmest… Ceiling fixtures are preferable to recessed lights.

• Mid, at or slightly above eye level… Sconces, art lights, some floor and table lamps, depending on what they’re placed on and their height.

• Low, below eye level… candles, small lamps on low tables, hurricanes, up-lights on plants, etc. Warm lights are best.

Headboards, lampshades, and the backs of dining chairs (the true back of chair if it’s upholstered, not the seat back) are great places to use a more expensive/delicate fabric as you don’t need as much and these locations are way less prone to wear and tear.

For the day to day, some drink options should be visible upon entry, even if it has to be in the visible next room. all options don’t have to be within view, but a few wine/liquor bottles plus cans of diet coke, soda, tonic, etc are good to have out with a few glasses. If you don’t drink, don’t fake it! put out Ghia and Perrier. in my opinion it makes people feel less like a burden for coming over because it says “ I have people over” even if you really don’t.

Resist the urge to be overly precious with nice things and too careless with bargains. Of course, don’t be reckless and cover every piece of furniture in your house in white silk and then serve only red wine at a party for 200…. but, then again, something is really chic about that in a campy way. If you get a lamp that’s super inexpensive but has good lines, go all out on the cost of the shade. Put fabulous trim on plain muslin curtains. Put pricey artwork in a simple frame. This contrast makes things lively. High and low.

It’s possible to over-decorate. To avoid, coordinate more than you match.

Put plants in every room. They make a room feel like it gets used, even if it doesn’t.

When you’re getting started, it’s more important to think about what you’d like a room to deliver for you rather than how you’d like it to look.

A measurement people doing their own decorating projects forget about: seat height. If you’re buying armchairs to go with an existing sofa, stay within an inch higher or lower than the existing seat height in your arrangement. Seat heights can vary in rooms as a whole, think about a large living room with a dining area in it, but it shouldn’t vary too much, if at all, within a single seating group.

t’s not comfortable to have a visible light bulb in any of your lines of sight. Be cognizant when selecting and placing lamps/fixtures that, even if shades are technically the correct scale, the filament should not be in view. I see this mostly with bedside lamps that are proportional compared to the mattress height, but not to the person who gets in the bed.

If you change trim colors between rooms and there is a door between them, make sure that the edge of the door is painted the same trim color of the room the door swings into.

Rooms tell you what they need pretty quickly. Example: if natural light in a room is dim, it’s unlikely that painting the room all white is going to actually brighten it... the color will probably end up looking like a rain cloud. Instead, lean into what’s happening - paint the room dark and illuminate with lamps and fixtures. Rooms should just feel correct, rather than created.

Just because a room is huge doesn’t mean the furniture in it should be as well. Break up the room into as many possible “moments” and it will feel both cozy and expansive.

Try to start furniture plans in the middle of the room, not on the wall. Nothing charming about sitting around and looking into a void.

If you’re painting furniture to give it new life (this goes for anything you paint, though) - remember a few things:

• The more sheen a paint has, the more existing dents & imperfections are visible.

• The more sheen a paint has, the more durable the paint itself is to future wear and tear.

As with anything, preparation is key! It doesn’t matter how expensive or beautiful your paint is if sanding, smoothing, and filling aren’t done well first.

Cording, welts, piping are not just a decorative feature on upholstery. Especially on fully upholstered pieces, cording adds relief to the tension at critical areas (most of all, the arms) and reinforces seams as fabric pulls when a piece is used. In the long run, it’s an inexpensive way to prolong the life of your fabric between recoverings. If you want to be discreet with your cording because you don’t love the look, simply order extra yardage and have the upholster do a micro self-welt (.”) or match the color of the cording to the ground of the fabric (again, 1/4”)

When you’re changing hardware on a piece of furniture, don’t feel limited by the existing size, placement, or type of hardware. Oftentimes, simply choosing a slightly larger piece of hardware with a backplate (which in turn covers the holes) from the knob or pull you removed) can really elevate a piece. Sometimes if a pull was on the piece before, it can be chic to instead chose a pair of knobs (with or without a backplate depending what you need or want)

The easiest way to revive an old wood table is to add a tempered glass top instead of sanding/refinishing or painting.

There are so many ways to bump up brown furniture that’s looking a little museumish... think about simple changes rather than scrapping a great piece of furniture altogether or just changing hardware. For example-

• Add a fun tassel fringe to a key if there is one

• Have touches of gold foil or paint added to any carvings or decorative details

• Keep the top if it has one and it opens) open and put a fun, quirky lamp on it

• Use as a bar

• Use as a writing desk and get some incredible stationery and a comfy chair.

Have a wallpaper that you love but don’t have a wall for, its just a remnant, or is over budget? Consider just having it added to the back of a piece or the interior of a drawer. Don’t worry that this would hurt the integrity of a piece - backing, shelves, and drawer boxes are usually not original on antiques.

If you’re hunting for furniture online ebay, etsy, craigslist, etc) and you’re looking for a bargain- easiest trick is to purposely misspell the name of the designer, period, or production company and see if anyone didn’t do their research/doesnt know what they have. You may also try searching things like “antique TV cabinet” and, while I’m sure there will be hundreds of unbelievably horrible items under that listing, you may find a gem that can be resurrected.

If you’re working on a new house, renovation, or just making a few changes - install a ceiling fan in your laundry. This helps circulate air in a room that can get damp, plus it helps hang-drying clothes dry faster.

If you are repainting or refinishing a *small* piece of furniture yourself (this is mostly for chairs, tables, and small chests), make things easier when working on legs by gently hammering a small nail into the middle of the leg you’re working on to give some lift and allow you to have a consistent application from base to top. This is way better than laying the piece down and rotating as it dries

Easiest way to improve the look of framed artwork and preserve it - museum anti-glare glass. Have the glass in your pieces that are already framed swapped out. If you’re on a budget and framing something for the first time, spend the money on the glass and choose a simple frame.

Don’t feel limited by a simple glass topped coffee table with a metal base- these are common, but you can replace the glass with remnant, rare stone (smaller slab), or even exotic wood and really elevate things.

For a circular dining table, it’s really nice to start with a standard white tablecloth that fits perfectly lie round and drapes to the floor) as a base to use. From there, you can buy squares of fabric and/or square table cloths in a variety of sizes and drape atop the white cloth. Since the basic white cloth underneath fits perfectly, you have the freedom to buy primarily based on pattern/color without much restriction on size for the additional tablecloth.

People talk a lot about the perfect white paint.... It’s a little exhausting. Here’s my perspective: Ivory White from Benjamin Moore is the best for both walls, ceiling, or trim. Use this color as a base- if it’s too warm for your room, go one shade cooler. If it’s too cool, go one shade warmer.

If you’re thinking of doing any home redecorating over the winter remember- no painting when temperatures will drop below 40° and there’s no constant heating on the interior (new builds, additions, and converted rooms). No painting exteriors for sure. Furniture painting projects should be done in a well-ventilated heated room. Ignoring this can result in poor adhesion and/or uneven coats.

The value of your decorator is more related to their ability to navigate inevitable changes and problems, rather than just creating an initial version.

Floor-plans need to work for everyday living, but also be functional for having people over. A question I give some clients to see how they live: how does your entertaining differ between these three events: the Super Bowl, an intimate dinner party, and Thanksgiving with lots of family? If the floorplans we create for you can accommodate your expectations for these three events you’re pretty much ready for anything.

Don’t save for best. If you have fabulous glasses you never use because you’re scared one may break, they might as well all be shattered.

Party Time:

If you have houseplants in pots as a centerpiece/focal point for a buffet, party, dinner, etc put a layer of dry black beans on top of the dirt. Polishes the overall look and lets the plant and container stand out. Remove when done.

Tally up candles lit before a party, then tally up candles blown out after. Saves you that final check you decide to do the minute you finally start to fall asleep.....

When you are arranging flowers, strip them. I know it can feel like a crime to pull off pretty leaves or other blooms on the same stem, but your final result will be much more professional and clean looking.

If you’re at a dinner party and offer to help clean up and are told a direct no— do not persist!

If you’re having more than 4 people over, place cards are a good idea. People like to know what to do. If you’re thinking about placement, a good rule of thumb is to put the most talkative people across from each other.

Try to stay away from too many items purchased solely as “conversation starters”...Not too interesting to sit around and talk about stuff.

Prolong the life of plates you use day-to-day by putting paper plates between layers to reduce friction/scraping. Fine china and delicate porcelain really should have felt mats between.

Endlessly turn any container into a vessel for flower arranging by taking chicken wire and wadding it into a ball, oval, semicircle, etc to fit. Less hassle than Oasis and can be reused and stored easily.

Rules for booze…

• More than 20 people on the list, you need 2 bar areas or one bar and one batched drink.

• Figure 3.5 glasses of wine per bottle in accordance with your guest list. This will balance out heavy drinkers with light drinkers. Round up to the next case. Leftovers should be the goal.

• Liquor: there’s 16 shots in a fifth. Assume 2 drinks per guest if you’re also serving wine and beer.

• Assume 3 per person if only serving booze.

• Always give the non-alcoholic option some thought, don’t let it just be mixers.

• Again, leftovers are the goal with drinks.

People have all kinds of rules about how high is too high for flowers on a dining table - best rule of thumb (and easiest to actually remember and check) is to place your elbow on the table and never exceed the height of your wrist. This way, you won’t have a wimpy arrangement and still be able to see the person across from you.

An emptied dishwasher is as important as an emptied trash can before a party.

If you don’t have space to house a ton of serving pieces, opt for the following:

• -9” salad plates as a workhorse for sides, appetizers, garnishes, desserts, etc

• Silver bowls (16 oz) - anything from a jar of olives to a bag of Lay’s looks good in a silver bowl.

• Get some where you can stack a few easily.

• Good looking food-grade wax paper. For larger foods/servings - use your sheet pans for serving and just put good looking wax paper beneath.

• White ceramic roasting pans that go from oven to table are worth their weight in gold

One of the things that rarely gets much attention in the planning phase of an event but truly can make or break your party is TRASH. Treat trash with real importance, especially for house parties. The best have somewhere to put trash in pretty much every room. Bonus if it’s an attractive bin. For anything- whether a furniture install or a formal seated dinner a trash plan should be created beforehand. & don’t be a neat freak about it and start making people uncomfortable, but at least keep eyes out for anyone who looks like they are dying to get rid of what’s in their hands.

If you don’t have time or resources to do a big arrangement but still want an impressive tablescape- buy a pre-assembled bouquet and take each flower out and put it into its own individual bud vase. Looks impressive/ modern and takes a lot of real estate without much money or effort.

Have night carafes for all guest bedrooms. You can fill them up earlier in the day as you prep for overnight guests and the cup functions as a lid.

It’s nice to set your table with the napkin on its own-no silverware on top- that way it can be easily picked up and placed in laps without moving any silverware off of it. That said — not into napkins set on top of plates or - god forbid - in glasses. If you don’t have room to do it or you want a really informal look, go ahead with silverware on top. There’s also times when draping over the back of the chair is a nice look, but that’s very circumstantial.

Try to keep overly fragrant flowers out of the kitchen or dining areas for a party-people can be very sensitive to scents and smelling a lily while you’re having dinner is not a pleasurable experience.

If you know someone doesn’t cook but you’re asking people to help with an event/ bring things— ask them to bring something that’s meaningful to them and can add. A great gardener can bring flowers or a plant. A good shopper can bring platters/serving pieces you don’t have. Your restaurant gurus will be happy to bring wine/cocktails. The truly helpless can bring ice.

Easy, elegant flower arrangements can be made by just picking one color and doing a variety of flowers in that color. This adds texture and interest without the hassle of mixing colors.

Photo stylist’s trick: if a flower bloom needs some encouraging to open up, mist then apply direct low heat from a hairdryer for about 10 minutes. Should begin to open in the next 12-24 hours.

Always have matches for guests in bathrooms. Cover odors better and are less obvious than those intense sprays.

Treat flower arranging like icing a cake - do them on a lazy susan so you can see from all sides and it’s easier to work with.

If you’re having new stationery made, invitations sent, save the dates, etc - and you’re thinking of doing classic black and white, add a little nuance by opting for an off-black or grey ink rather than jet black. This reduces the contrast between the ink and paper color, making it just a little easier to read with a little je ne sais quoi....

If you’re serving guests buffet-style, it’s imperative to think about two things beforehand for each item on your menu:

• Can this be self-served using one hand? If not, what changes need to be made so that it can be?

• Could this be eaten off your lap as easily as it could be eaten at a table? If not-change the menu or adjust the pre-portioned size.

For serving food, figure 5 “bites” per person when it comes to canapés, cheese straws, hot cheese olives, etc ... figure up how many individual pieces a recipe makes and divide by 5. This number will tell you how many you can serve.

If you’re throwing a party and are short on freezer space- Keep all the extra/unopened bags of ice in your washing machine and just pull bags as needed. Grouped all together they’ll stay frozen, and any melting will just drip out. Plus, people tend to congregate in the kitchen anyway, and there’s something really unsexy about refilling coolers with ice, so it’s nice to do that elsewhere.

Easiest side dish that’s different, quick, works with most any menu, and takes two ingredients: Radishes quartered and sautéed in good butter for about 10-15 minutes. Top with flaked salt

If you need crushed ice for cocktails (or just want some on hand) - best to use a food processor and pulse until you have the texture you want. Much quicker than a blender & gives you a more consistent result

When you’re setting food out, it’s more appetizing to see more food on smaller plates/platters. There’s something about large serving pieces that look like people are skipping over what’s being served or the host looks skimpy, even if those two things aren’t true. Keep garnishes simple. Only use things that are used in the dish or - at most - on the menu.

Throwing a seated dinner/lunch and don’t have enough napkins that are just right? Or, do you only have storage space for a handful of linens? No problem. First, buy white cotton napkins that match. From here on, simply wrap white cotton napkins with a ribbon that works with your tablescape. This adds some inexpensive personality and is also great to jazz up basic catering supplies if serving a large ground.

If you are going to put out a bunch of votive/tea candles/candlesticks for a party, keep them in the freezer the night before and they’ll burn slower.

The size of the guest list should mirror the size of the setting. Ideally, the total number of guests invited should be right at or a bit more than what a place can really hold. It feels like people didn’t show up when there’s too much space, even if everyone’s there.

If you’re going to put a wedge or wheel of cheese out at a party, you have to go ahead and cut the first 3-4 slices for your guests. If you don’t, it seems like the guests are supposed to wait for the host to come christen it or something before they can dig in. Make an effort to communicate “make yourself at home” in more ways than just verbalizing.

Trifecta for perfect appetizers, hors d’oeuvres and nibbles:

• Two bite maximum

• No silverware of any kind needed

• Nothing runny

For parties: Appetizers where temperature doesn’t really matter: leave out for self-service. Appetizers that need to be served at a perfect temp: need to be passed.

Easiest appetizer:

• Jar of castelvetrano olives from the pantry

• Sprinkle a little flaky salt, fresh cracked pepper, and a little lemon juice or some apple cider

• vinegar on top

• 10 minutes at 325°

• Serve immediately and have a bowl for pits

Easiest way to chill wine bottles fast is to take an ice bucket or large pitcher, fill with iced water and lots of kosher salt- set the bottle in and turn continuously... should be completely chilled in under 10 min

Best not to give a hostess gift you expect to be used for served immediately. It adds extra stress and can feel somewhat self-serving.

For larger parties without staff/catering, it’s worth having speed pour spouts on hand to put in liquor bottles. They speed up guests self-serving, make it easier for guests to make a drink with a ratio they like, and comparatively make no mess.

If you ask a friend to help you discreetly during a dinner, have the courtesy to seat them next to you. It’s not at all enjoyable for them if they feel they need to try and catch your glance or understand signals across the table

Freeze grapes as a fun garnish for drinks ... always ready to use and work with most anything.

The mood of the host is the mood of the party.

Unless you’re having your absolute closest friends over, I wouldn’t try to make something for a dinner party you’ve never attempted before.

When setting a table, it is fun to mix & match and not have everything as a set.... However I do think at least one thing-usually the plate, napkin, or one of the glasses (water or wine) should be consistent. This just helps it feel intentionally mismatched and not piecemealed.

Always start the buffet with plates & end with flatware. Don’t make your guests show off their best balancing act.

If you find a wine you love, look into the importer for other wines you may like as that may have more options of different varietals and growers that could be more aligned with your tastes. Same goes for books, you may look at the publication company for other works they’re printing - as you may have a similar taste/point of view as their publishers.

A flute is kind of a terrible glass for most sparkling wines if you’re actually trying to enjoy them. Coupe is ideal.

Opening a bottle of sparkling wine is a twisting motion, not a pull. Much more in control this way. Bottles “explode” with bubbles from either too much shaking, or, more commonly, too much variation in extreme temperatures (i.e. improper storage and/or transport sometimes totally not your fault.)

Mostly true for day to day...The shape of the wine bottle will tell you the shape of the glass that’s best for it- Bordeaux shaped bottles take a Bordeaux glass, and Burgundy shaped bottles take Burgundy glasses.

The reason your homemade cocktails don’t taste like they do in a great bar could be for several reasons, but if you consider yourself moderately well-versed and still can’t get there… here’s your 2 most likely issues:

• Shake with ice for a full 30 seconds. 30 seconds is a long time. It’s not just about temperature/ it’s also about dilution

• You’re probably not double straining when you pour your finished product. If you don’t double strain, the drink is considered “bruised” ... ie it has little pieces of ice floating around. Sometimes that’s nice but often it just reads as juvenile. Use a cocktail strainer along with a small fine mesh strainer to get your drinks to have the correct texture.

The temperature for house parties matters. Rule of thumb:

• Using 70° as base, for every 10 people in your house, decrease 2 degrees.

• In the winter, it’s the same, but for every 15 people decrease 2 degrees.

Laundry Day:

First line of defense getting make-up out of clothes: blot with oil free make-up remover or micellar water.

If putting something filled with down in the dryer, put tennis balls in with it to redistribute the fluff. Works more effectively than wool dryer balls as tennis balls have more bounce.

In a pinch, Vaseline works perfectly fine to buff out scuffs patent or smooth leather shoes. Use a cotton pad or microfiber cloth and rub in a small amount all over. Great to keep a travel size pot on hand for the suitcase.

Do not dry your towels completely. Pull when mostly dry, allow them to self-dry for a bit, then fold and put away. Over drying frays fibers and kills softness overtime.

Ink stains can be removed from fabrics (colors and whites) by soaking overnight in whole milk then laundering as normal. If stains are excessive, add vinegar too.

Get chocolate out of fabric by spot treating with detergent and hydrogen peroxide then laundering as normal.

Avoid creases in delicate hang-dry items like scarves & table linens by cutting a pool noodle lengthwise and to the size of the bottom of a clothes hanger and slide on. The large, rolled edge will keep you from odd creases you’d later have to iron out.

100% cotton denim shouldn’t be washed after every wear. Sounds crazy- but after a day of light wear, put folded jeans into freezer for a bit and they’ll be totally refreshed.

Pop linen napkins into freezer in a ziploc bag after washing and after about 24 hours iron from frozen - they’ll iron beautifully without the need for starch or pulling too taught

For minor sweat stains in whites, spot treat with a paste of shampoo (no dyes!) and oxygen bleach. Let sit overnight and launder as normal with cold water and more oxygen bleach. Air dry and see if you need to repeat. If you have already put this in the dryer, you will need to add baking soda to your paste and wash and let it sit longer before washing.

If you have sensitive skin or are washing for a newborn, try this:

• Wash first with stain treatments, bleach, vinegar, borax, etc and your regular detergent

• Extra rinse or a quick rinse cycle

• Wash again on cold with Dreft or a similar fragrance free gentle detergent.

• Dry as normal

This allows you to get the power of more powerful cleaning agents but leaves a result that doesn’t have the residue.

Get droppers for treating stains. Allows you to treat just the area that needs attention without rubbing in the stain or using so much of a solvent/soap/solution that you damage the dyes around the stain too.

Cashmere and wool shampoos are a bit of a marketing scam in my opinion. I hand wash in cold water with baby shampoo and baking soda and have never had an issue.

Heat sets stains- full stop. If you have a stain in anything, dissolve your dry solvents / detergent etc in a little warm water, then fill the rest of the way up with very cold water. Only soak in cold water. Don’t be shy... reset and change the water out if you need to re-soak. Then wash in a machine on cold as well if you’d like. If you need to sanitize a piece as well as get a stain out, wait until the stain is out to wash once again with hot water. ONLY PUT IN THE DRYER IF YOU’RE 1000% SURE THE STAIN IS OUT. Once it’s in the dryer, it’s set.

Always test a stain treatment on a new piece of clothing in the inside armpit or inside seat (if it’s pants)

Clean the lining of a leather jacket by soaking a washcloth in water and about a third of a capful of detergent. Loose ratio but about 6:1... turn the jacket inside out and scrub. Let sit and use a washcloth soaked in only water to wipe again. Wring out cloth and repeat until no suds are left. Wrap in a dry bath towel for an hour or so, then hang (leather side out) to dry.

If you use a stain removing spray like Dreft, Seventh Generation, Shout, etc you have to let it dry into the piece first then launder as normal. Spraying then tossing straight into the machine just washes the solution out immediately.

Pilling after washing is not necessarily a sign of poor quality. (Pilling already in the store on the other hand.....) Ways

to reduce pilling after removing build up with a sweater stone or similar:

• Skip the dryer and just hang.

• Sort clothes for washing not only by colors or whites, but also by weight of fabric-heavy clothes mixed with light clothes can cause pilling on both as the fabrics stick to each other.

Laundering velvet - at home or dry cleaning - compresses the fibers over time and irregularly flattens the fabric. Best way to clean: spot treat with a diluted water/ detergent solution and then steam gently. Only dry clean if absolutely necessary.

Fels-Naptha.... Best stain bar out there. Works on grease, clay, grass, toothpaste, etc. This bar mixed with Dawn dish soap & baking soda is the last resort for stains that have already set. Also apparently great for your skin if you have poison ivy.

The best way to attempt to remove a spot your iron has scorched:

• Wet a thin cloth or clean rag with hydrogen peroxide. Lay on top of the scorched spot and iron over the top of the spot on medium heat.

• Repeat as needed without letting the iron get too hot.

If you’re cleaning shoes and find the white soles have yellowed, brush on hair developer and let sit in a warm place for a few hours. You can blast with a hair dryer intermittently if it’s a cold or dreary day.

More detergent does not mean more clean. You only need about 2 tablespoons of detergent for a load of laundry. Too much detergent can leave residue on your clothes and cause irritation... also, you’ll use less this way. Many manufacturers make the cup covering the pour spout larger than necessary so you’ll run through product faster and buy more.

Tamping a stain is preferable to scrubbing a stain in. To do this, get a soft, simple toothbrush (all bristles, no silicone) to use only for laundry. Quickly push the brush up and down with your stain treatment on the spot in order to penetrate all sides of the fibers, rather than scrubbing all on one spot and making a mark/damaging threads.

If you have fabric bath mats, they should be flat woven with no backing… i.e. able to be washed/dried like your towels. Caveat is teak bathmats, which can stay in place and just need to be cleaned as often as your bathroom is.

I’m staunchly against fabric softener... but the item I am most against using it on is towels. Fabric softeners are adjacent to wax, and they literally reduce absorbency and flatten fibers. Use vinegar instead. If you’re using bleach on your towels, use baking soda for softening since vinegar and bleach shouldn’t be mixed.

If you feel like you cannot get a smell out of fabric after trying everything (I find this to be common with vintage denim) - try soaking in lukewarm water and Pine Sol, then washing in a regular cycle with vinegar. If the item can’t be easily laundered in a machine- say it’s a lining fabric, old rug, or bolts of fabric- dilute pine sol with water and decant into a spray bottle- then spritz on.

Detergent build up makes clothes look dingy and have an unpleasant texture. If this happens: Stop using so much detergent! But it is reversible - you can strip some of this build up by soaking affected clothes in epsom salt then rinsing on a cool cycle with only vinegar, no detergent.

Confused why sometimes wool feels itchy...then other times soft... then sometimes almost like a cotton/silk blend? Processing, age, and breed.

• Virgin wool, lambswool, mohair, cashmere and merino are the finest of all commonly-found wools from a breed standpoint. There are more fine options but if you’re paying for those you are already privy to this information. These breeds produce lightweight yarn and you will find them less itchy as a whole as a baseline.

• BUT! If something pills super fast or begins to irritate you and is one of these varieties, it’s likely over processed (chemicals/synthetic additions) and/or shorter hairs. Think about it this way:if you shave a sheep and come back to harvest wool every few weeks, the tiny hairs would be short and scratchy. If you harvested every 8 months, however, it would be longer and softer (Same can be applied for why long-staple cotton is much more desirable.) This is why you want to know more about the care taken with the animals themselves before you buy wool from a company if you can’t feel this quality in person.

• Virgin wool has 2 meanings: either the first cutting ever taken (often the softest you’ll get from any breed) or it has been totally unprocessed (likely very scratchy and will smell like the earth! May even have some hay in it like Babaa sweaters sometimes do!)

When in doubt, buy in person. I think sweaters and jeans are always best bought in person.

If you like your clothes scented straight out of the laundry, rub a few drops of an essential oil into your dryer balls. Let dry before use.

Avoid using chlorine bleach (Clorox or similar) if you have water that is higher in iron... ie water from a well. The reaction between chlorine and iron causes yellowing over time & the more iron that is in the water causes this process to speed up.

Laundry test for silk-

• Grab with your hand and scrunch. When you release:

• If the silk snaps itself back to original: it can handle a hand wash or gentle cycle

• If it holds the wrinkles for a good bit: dry clean

Iron a monogram or embroidery from the reverse side, then flip and just iron the front around the monogram. This makes sure that threads aren’t impacted by the heat and pressure, but also allows you to really work out wrinkles.

If you’re drying a bulky/large item in the dryer, put a bath towel in with it and it will dry more quickly and resists bunching up.

When you’re packing a suitcase, lay the items most likely to wrinkle in first. The pressure from clothes on top keeps them held upright.

Help with shopping for clothes- Brands are irregular with how their size guides work. Some base them on body measurements, and others base them on garment measurements. This can make things super confusing. Here’s how to navigate:

• Call tailors in your area and ask if you can come in to be measured by someone else. Shoulders, chest, neck, arms, waist, hip, etc. All of it. Any good tailor should do this, understand why you are doing it, and probably won’t charge you much, if anything. I’d transfer all to a spreadsheet and also convert all to centimeters in another column for ordering from overseas.

• Take your favorite (best fitting, most comfortable) pair of pants, your favorite shirt, and your favorite jacket and measure the sleeve, inseam, opening, etc. and notate the exact same way. Transfer to a digital spreadsheet and convert units in a separate column. Now you have a point of reference.

Keeping all of this on hand and actually using it will make online ordering a breeze.

The best (but most time consuming way to prevent wrinkles on all of your clothes in your suitcase is to neatly fold white tissue paper into everything you pack. Lay the clothing flat, lay tissue over top, and fold as normal, placing more tissue between layers of clothing in your suitcase. Separate socks and underwear into their own smaller pouch.

Smarter shopping… If you’re buying clothes- whether new or vintage-always turn them inside out and look at the stitching/seams. Is the inside attractive looking at all? Are the stitches more or less straight? Can you clearly see what the pattern might have been? Are there loose threads? If it looks at all sloppy- walk away... it will not last. If the piece doesn’t have a French seam (or something better)... walk away. That is a basic stitch and says so much about a company when they are cutting costs in that way. There are very few times when it’s ok to simply surge the edges and it mostly has to do with thicker materials/ denim. Also, it’s so uncomfortable to have a serged edge rub against you all day and you probably won’t want to wear it....

Use a child’s size hanger for hanging pants/denim in your closet. Less of the empty hanging area will be exposed and it will be easier to see what is actually on the coat hanger rather than having to flip through and pull things out to see what they are.

In the Garden:

From Bunny Williams: Garden design starts inside. Decide what you’d like to look out onto, and where you’d like interior spaces to lead into. Think of this season by season and plan from there.

Put coffee filters at the bottom of pots to cover drainage holes so that soil doesn’t leak out, but still allows for water to flow.

Easy fertilizer: keep used eggshells in an airtight container. Simply shake to break them up when the container is full and add into soil.

Small, insignificant detail - but, it’s so much nicer to use your own twine rather than just leave the plastic ties that come pre-wrapped on stakes. Especially (!!!!) on indoor plants / topiaries.

If you are getting rust off gardening tools, use steel wool and a little vegetable oil to help the abrasive slide easier.

DIY spigot cover: wrap a towel well around spigot, cover with a plastic bag and tie tight.

If you’re having trouble attracting bees/butterflies to your garden, mist plants with the mixture of high quality lavender essential oil and water.

People feel like they can’t put cut flowers out because it takes too long likely have too many wide-mouth vessels ... so they need frogs, tape, oasis, chicken wire, etc… to do anything. Start shopping for glass and ceramic (doesn’t matter the container’s original intent) with a skinny neck that will hold flowers upright for you, even if it’s so narrow it’ll only hold one to two stems... still better than nothing!

Restore teak furniture in 4 steps:

• Pressure wash

• Sand

• Rub with vinegar

• Seal

If you threw away your flower food packet or need some extra for your arrangements, just mix a teaspoon of sugar and a teaspoon of bleach to 4 cups of room temperature water and use that to fill your vessel.

Plant in wet soil. Dig your holes, fill them with water, and then pull your plants out of the plastic containers they were purchased in. This makes planting so much easier as you won’t have to hold back dry soil as you plant.

Plastic bumpers… the kind you use for the interior side of cabinet doors, etc…. are great to stick to the bottom of containers to allow for better drainage. Three laid out in a triangle shape should do the trick. Better than unsightly risers and plates, in my opinion. The cork rounds are great too for covered areas.

This is subjective but... prioritize money for containers over types of flowers in arrangements if you have to choose. Something inexpensive like a daisy looks better in a beautiful container than expensive peonies would in a plastic cup.

Flower frogs are fabulous for arrangements.... but - make sure to buy the type with attached suction cups or adhere your own to them (using an adhesive that’s water resistant.) The classic weighted ones, which are so pretty, just do not work as well as you want them to. Don’t even begin to waste your money on the plastic ones with no suction cups unless your flowers absolutely need no water.

The woodier the stem, the more imperative it is that you make a vertical cut in the middle of the stem in addition to your diagonal cut across the bottom when making an arrangement. This helps with absorption and prolonged freshness.

If you use greenery in your arrangements, it’s easier to start with foliage to create the general shape/structure and then fill gaps with flowers rather than vice versa. Starting with the flowers inevitably means damaging petals and squashed up foliage partially covering blooms.

You will have to water plants that are in terracotta pots much more frequently than plants in metal, glazed ceramic, stone, etc. Terracotta is porous and dries out soil faster. This can lead to overwatering or underwatering if you just follow general plant guidelines - when you swap to terracotta pots you have to figure out your own routine for watering.

It’s easier to get weeds out (got to be roots and all! ) after it rains or you’ve watered.

The size of gravel/rock you use should directly correlate to the amount of wind you get. For example: pea gravel is pointless in wide open spaces... best for an enclosed area, etc. Wind informs weight informs size.

Cut flowers at a diagonal with a pair of sharp scissors you do not use for anything else. This ensures max absorption and prolonged life in your vase.

A mixture of club soda and some Epsom salt is a great mineral boost for your plants and seedlings. About two teaspoons of Epsom salt per 12 oz of club soda.

Pre-soak your terracotta pots daily up to the time you plant in them. Since they’re porous they’ll absorb water, and this will help all of the water you give your newly potted plants go to creating root systems, rather than the pot eating up a significant amount of moisture from the start.

If you cut off branches that are infected with a plant disease, be sure to soak your garden tools in a solution of water and chlorine bleach or water and barbicide for at least 30 seconds before continuing on to another plant (or even another part of the plant if it’s big enough) - your tools can cross contaminate.

If you’d like to reduce the overall weight of your container/use less soil, use hay at the bottom so that water can still flow through and as the hay decays it will act as a kind of compost. Lots of other tips to do this use rocks or packing peanuts; rocks are not all that much lighter than soil all said and done, and packing peanuts can compact and lose height/reduce drainage.

Make your life easier - instead of awkwardly dumping / working out bags of soil, decant your bag into 5 gallon buckets and carry soil around to work from. Mise en place for your garden.

Raise your terracotta planters with wood beams or terracotta risers under them during the winter so that if the ground underneath/water within them freezes they won’t burst at the bottom.

If you use a pest repellent for squirrels, rabbits, moles, etc.. prolong the life and effectiveness by spraying your pots rather than the soil. Needs to be a porous material for this to work well. Really helpful for herbs that you don’t want to absorb these sprays.

Use your hose as a guide to plan/easily stencil any beds that are not square.

Mixing red pepper into soil can deter dogs from peeing on plants. BUT! Remember if ingested it can irritate their nasal passages.

If you buy new containers for your garden and would like them to have some patina-rub them with plain, inexpensive Greek yogurt and let them sit for several weeks (best to do this over winter) in a covered spot. A nice green moss will begin to grow and begin to create the look of years of aging.

Before you set live greenery/ garlands out, it needs to soak for about 24 hours in water to keep fresh the whole season. Make a new cut on the bottom about ó” or so to help with absorption.

Everything but the Kitchen Sink:

Kosher salt works in a pinch if you don’t have rock salt. Area needs to be void of snow for this to work.

Sharpen scissors by folding fine-grit sandpaper in half (so that the grit is exposed on both sides) and cutting through. Depending on how dull your scissors are, you may need to do this several times and/or use an extra fine grit.

Find a mentor you trust and can call a friend.

Prolong the life of your mattress....While it’s true the days of needing to flip your mattress are mostly a thing of the past, you should still be rotating your mattress (end to end) every 6 months.\ Make this easy on yourself! Use a blank name tag sticker or a small index card secured with safety pins - write “Jan - June “ with an arrow in one direction on one end and “July-Dec” with an arrow in the opposite direction on the other - and secure that directly to the left or right side of the mattress.

Steel wool will go 10 times as far if you unroll the pad and use a little at a time.

Save gas & have cooler air in the summer by keeping your car’s air on recirculate. This way, the car only has to cool already cooled air, instead of constantly pulling in hot air from outside and overworking the alternator which powers your AC!

You’re supposed to flip diffuser sticks every so often (I do about every other week) to keep the scent fresh. So many people say that they don’t work but have just had the reeds sitting in the same position for a year plus.

You’re probably putting your garbage bag inside-out especially if it’s easily busting. Typically they come off the roll inside-out... the loose seam should be to the inside of the trash bin. Will be much more durable this way and fit the can easier.

If you’re someone who wants to be better about sending handwritten notes for birthdays, anniversaries, important dates, etc but always has a last minute realization (present company is majorly guilty): On the first day of each month and set aside 5 minutes just to address & stamp the envelopes of all the cards you want to send that month. I’d look at the first week of the following month as well, just in case someone has a birthday or something in the first few days. Keep them on your desk in the order they need to be sent. You’ll naturally find the time to write the card and the monotonous part is already handled.

When you don’t comprehend how anything works, everything could be a conspiracy.

In a pinch- if you need AA batteries and only have AAA handy, you can take a small piece of foil and place it between the battery and the connector (the + end) and it may work for a bit.

Best not to tie ribbons on gifts with knots. The point is to be able to open without hassle (or scissors).

Homemade mouse repellent: Take a small container and poke holes in the lid, or plan to use a glass jar and cover with cheesecloth before screwing on the ring. Fill the container with red pepper flake, cinnamon sticks, and star anise. Place in a warm setting, entries, and/or around food storage, and repeat as many as needed.

If you get stung by a wasp, bee, hornet, etc., circle the spot with an ink pen immediately. The swelling will not exceed the perimeter of the circle.

Keep cotton wrist sweatbands to put on when you wash your face (especially if you are wearing a robe or something) to keep water from running down your arms and/or getting your sleeves wet.

Easier way to unload a box of canned drinks into your fridge: open both ends of the box, set onto the fridge shelf, and push cans into the fridge with one hand while pulling the box towards you with the other.

Store your holiday decor in boxes with several cinnamon sticks. It’s a natural deterrent for many pests and keeps everything smell * gently* festive.

Slap bracelets (yes, slap bracelets!) can be a really useful alternative to rubber bands for holding wrapping paper together. Also great for silicone baking mats. They’re easily slapped on then pulled off, so super useful for an item you need to use then put away frequently. Tape can rip/leave residue, and sliding rubber bands over the end then on and off long rolls is tedious, plus if they’re too tight they can dent or rip paper. You can get a pack of simple ones from Lee Valley or Amazon.

Best way to light a Christmas tree: Purchase -200 lights per vertical foot. Starting at the base, wrap each branch with lights (back to front then front to back), then before moving to the next branches shove about 7” of slack as a clump at the trunk, then repeat. This takes absolutely forever and is so frustrating but it really does deliver the best result. I leave a few branches bare every now and then to give a little bit more of an unfussy look, especially if that’s the vibe of the ornaments. The goal is to have the tree look illuminated from the trunk.

Hang ornaments securely by using a flex hook (or bread ties work super well too as your hanger, then wrap the hook around the branches completely rather than just hooking on. I intermix some ornaments only hung with a flex hook and some hung with a string and flex hook so that there’s variation.

Perfect fall/winter simmer pot:

• Vanilla extract

• Cinnamon stick

• Anise

• Cloves

• A few turns of fresh cracked black pepper

Top with water until just covered, simmer, and replenish water as needed.

Best not to tie ribbons on gifts with hard knots. The point is to be able to open without hassle (or scissors)

If a pen isn’t working - dip a bit of a napkin in water and roll the ball over the spot - then test the pen. It’ll start writing. Especially useful when you’re at a restaurant trying to leave and the pen won’t work.

Use different textured towels for face and hands if you hang them together. For me, I use plain terry cloth for hands and a cut pile ribbed towel for face, both in white. This way after washing your face and eyes are closed you can quickly grab the towel you want without accidently getting them mixed up.

You can paint clear nail polish around the bottom of cans/bottles that leave rust residue ring in bathrooms, kitchen, etc. to stop this from happening and save some elbow grease later.

Old fashioned aid for a sore throat: Gargle a solution of salt, apple cider vinegar (works better if a little warm), and a dash of cayenne pepper.

If a ring is absolutely stuck on your finger the best way to get it off is to spray Windex on it. Using butter or oil or even mayonnaise like some people suggest leaves residue in the ring and forces you deep clean it after. It should slide right off.

From Ina Garten: Always leave room for fun!