Kathy Zengolewicz

Most times the vinyl will pull off in a clean strip, but thin vinyl will rip, in that case try to pull off as much as possible before it tears. Continue to pull the thin vinyl off until the only thing left on the wall is the backing paper and glue. The backing paper is porous and will soak up the wallpaper stripper for an easy removal.

When you mix the wallpaper stripper, use warm or hot water in a regular compression sprayer. Put the water in first and then the stripper to prevent the mixture from foaming. Cover your floors with a drop cloth to protect them from the spray. Wallpaper stripper has been know to damage certain floors, so take the appropriate steps and be cautious.

Work with small, 3 or 4 foot sections, soaking the paper with the spray from the floor to the sealing. For heavily papered walls you may need to spray a second or third time. When you get all of the paper removed, you’ll need to go over the entire area with a clean rag and warm water to remove the excess paste that will be on the wall.

Once you have your walls cleaned, you can wash the baseboards and floor and you’ll be ready to repaper or paint.

Take care. I’ll talk to you soon!

Post from: Keeping the Castle

Kathy Zengolewicz

Changing your curtains or getting a new window treatment can completely change the look of a room. It doesn’t matter whether you choose sheer curtains, heavy draperies or a sheer curtain with an over drape. Window treatments express your style and also provide privacy. You can choose anything from a simple linen curtain to a faux silk drape for a stunning effect.

For the kitchen, you don’t have to go to a lot of expense. I did a makeover on my kitchen and it cost me next to nothing. Throw some paint on the walls to brighten and freshen them and change your drawer pulls. My kitchen theme is apples so I looked around and found small apple knobs and I replaced my old drawer pulls with those. Go to a linen outlet and choose a few colorful, seasonal dish towels, hand towels and dish cloths. They will definitely make your kitchen bright.

Living rooms were made for candles. Arrange a couple of pillar candles, different sizes, around the room to give it a rich look. Around this time of year you can get seasonal paper plates in all sizes to set the candles on to give them a festive charm.  If your sofa is looking a little shabby, try a new slip cover or better yet arrange a favorite quilt or afghan, corner facing down towards the cushions, across the top of the couch. This will give your living room a warm and inviting look. Remember to keep you living room lamp and coffee tables free of clutter.

Always make sure that your entry way, at the front door, is free of clutter. When the path is clear, your home will feel more welcoming.

Take care. I’ll talk to you soon!

Post from: Keeping the Castle

Kathy Zengolewicz

Hang a quilt on the wall behind your headboard. It’s a simple step that looks great. You don’t have to match the quilt with your bedspread, but do keep the same color scheme.

Mix and match some pillows to brighten up the room. Your décor should express your personality so find a favorite print and use a dollar store picture frame and you have instant art for your bedroom walls.

Not a print kind of person? Take pictures of your children or other loved ones, yes that does include you pets, and frame those photos. Make a collage of those pics. I like that kind of art!

Redecorate or replace your lampshades to correspond with your new décor, or better yet, install wall lamps. That will keep some of the clutter off of your bedside or night table.

Change the position of your bed. Placing your bed on an angle, where the corner of the room is in the middle of your headboard, that gives a unique semblance to the room.

If you’re a snuggler, top your bed with a soft down comforter. If you just want to inject some color into the room do it with a few accessories like a new lampshade or knick knacks.

You can add a homey look to your space by draping your quilt or comforter over the headboard or footboard using your bed as a quilt stand.

So, you see there are many easy and inexpensive ways to change a room using your imagination. Have fun trying some of these suggestions.

Take care. I’ll talk to you soon!

Post from: Keeping the Castle

Food, Cooking, and Holidays:
Cooking with a Little This and That
10 Ways to Eat More Fruits and Vegetables
Your Last Minute Stop for Halloween Ideas
17 Halloween Cupcake Ideas
20 Pumpkin Inspired Recipes
Tips for Hosting Thanksgiving Dinner
30 Fall Inspired Desserts and Treats

Organization and Declutering:
Do You Have an All or Nothing Attitude
Tips to Get Your Organization Started
Simplify Your Life:  Do Not Call Registry

Homemaking and Housekeeping:
Ideas for Repurposing Old Dresser Drawers
Tips for Completing Dreaded Chores
10 Ways to Save on Your Winter Energy Bill
How to Keep Your Carpet Smelling Fresh
Recycling Containers for Your Home
10 Easy Ways to Save Water
What’s in Your Washing Machine?
An Exploration of Laundry Myths
Lenox Bloom Dinnerware Review

Other:
A Farewell
Wordy Wednesday: My Trip to New York
Links I’m Enjoying
5 Tips for Grocery Store Baggers
 I’m Headed to New York City!

As I mentioned earlier, this will be my last post at Keeping the Castle. It’s been a pleasure.  You can continue to find me at Thrifty Mommy and on Twitter. 

image used with permission of Linette G

Post from: Keeping the Castle

1.  Commit to 15 minutes. Set the timer for 15 minutes and commit to work for that amount of time.  Give yourself permission to stop working when the timer buzzes.  This will help get you started and the time you’re working doesn’t seem so overwhelming.  This way you can conquer the clutter one small pile at a time.  And it’s amazing the amount of work that you can get done when you diligently work with no distractions.

2.  Make a compromise. Set realistic expectations for how you want your house to look.  For me, I try to keep the common areas fairly clean.  Each day I *try* to put away the things in the main areas of the house.  It makes me feel like things are under control, even though there’s five loads of laundry waiting.

3.  Get the whole family involved. Set the timer and have everyone work together for 10-15 minutes.  Encourage teamwork, working as a family, responsibility, and end results.

What tips do you have for getting organized?

image (c) Karen Weideman

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Each of us has a certain chore that we just don’t like to do.  This has me thinking of some tips to help us accomplish these dreaded chores.  Hopefully, tomorrow I’ll get to put these tips to use.

1)  Reward yourself.  Tell yourself that after your chore is completed, you’ll do something nice for yourself.  It could be a quiet cup of coffee, your favorite television show, or reading a chapter from a book.

2)  Set the timer.  Sometimes when there’s a chore I don’t want to complete, I set the timer for 15-20 minutes.  I know that I only have to work until the timer beeps so it’s easier to get started.  Once I get started though, I usually end up working quickly and trying to see how much I can get done before the timer sounds.  Sometimes I even work after the allotted time.

3)  Make it fun.  Turn up the music and dance or sing.  If the kids are helping out, set the timer and make it a race.  Have a good time. 

What is the chore that you hate to complete?

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1)  Take off your shoes when you come into the house.  Your shoes have dirt, leaves, and germs from other places you have been.

2)  Have your carpets cleaned a few times each year.  You can do this yourself if you have a steam cleaner or you can rent a machine for about $30-40 per day.  If you’re able to, you can hire a professional to clean the carpets.

3)  Keep a rug over high traffic areas.  Rugs can be taken out of the house to wash or air out.  They’re also less expensive to replace should something happen to them.

4)  Use a carpet freshener.  You can purchase some with fragrance that you can shake onto the carpet and vacuum.  I don’t care much for strong fragrances, so I prefer to use baking soda.  Simply shake it on the carpet and let it sit for an hour or so before vacuuming.  The baking soda will absorb the odors rather than covering them up.

5)  Use an odor eliminator.  If you have some strong smells in your carpet, consider using an inexpensive odor eliminator such as Febreeze.  You can also buy a product called Odor-B-Gone which works well for pet smells.

6)  Clean up all spills immediately.  This will keep your carpet from staining and will also eliminate the odors setting in to the carpet.

7)  Have a no food policy on the carpet.  Although my husband and I eat  in the living room sometimes, our kids are not allowed to eat in the living room.  There were just too many issues with spills and food getting into the carpet.

What ways do you keep your carpet smelling fresh?

image sxc.hu

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Landlord Ed Peirce refused to evict his tenants.  Instead, he got a job.  This is a beautiful story of kindness and mercy.

This chicken tenders picadillo sounds yummy and simple.  I might give this recipe a try some time soon.

I’ve had fruit pizza before and now I have the recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod.  The pictures make the pizza look too pretty to eat.

To get educated about tea shopping, check out these 10 healing herbs used in teas.

Some days I can get a lot done and other days I feel so distracted or unmotivated. Hopefully, these 33 ways to get and keep yourself motivated will help.

Since I am the Thrifty Mommy, I’m known for saving money.  This tutorial, How to Make Your Own Granola sounds like a great way to save.

If you’re at a loss for space, check out these creative storage ideas at Apartment Therapy.

If you’ve found any great tips or articles, feel free to leave a link.

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Switching Over to Cloth Napkins

Finding a Closet Organization System

10 Ways to Decorate with Gourds & Pumpkins

30 Creative Cake and Cupcake Ideas

5 Tips for Organizing Your Kitchen

My Ongoing Yard Sale Pile

Recipes from Quaker Maid

Crock Pot Shredded Mexican Beef Recipe

Fantastic Cleaning with Fantastik Cleaner

Cars Movie Cake

Our Two New Cats

Links I’m Enjoying

How to Clean a Clogged Shower Head

Fire Pit Safety for Children

Fall Blooming Flowers for Your Garden

Choosing an Outdoor Firepit or Fireplace

It’s Time to Buy Plants and Patio Furniture

Finally Moved In!

Storage Basket for Cooking Utensils

August Highlights at Keeping the Castle – Scroll through to see if there’s anything that might interest you.

Reasons I Like Fall

Links I’m Enjoying

Which articles did you enjoy?

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I am guilty of disorganization in my kitchen.  I am trying to get better though.  Here are a few kitchen organizing tips.

1)  Put things away when you’re done using them.  If we did this with everything our lives would be so much cleaner and organized.

2)  Buy functional organizational tools.  Don’t just buy some baskets because you think you can use them.  Access your needs and space.  Decide what will work and then make the purchases.  Yesterday, I bought some little plastic baskets for my kitchen drawers.  I bought them for the scissors, clothes pins, kid’s medicine cups and syringes, and other small items.  They were pretty inexpensive too; some were 2/$1 and some were 3/$1. 

3)  Give a new home to things you rarely use.  If you rarely use the vegetable steamer and waffle maker, then consider storing them in the garage or basement.  I have a little storage container that I use for storing cookie cutters and other infrequently used utensils.  It keeps them from getting in my way and junking up my kitchen drawers.

4)  Have a clean up time before dinner.  Each night, have a short clean up time before you begin dinner so that you can put away all the little things that are lying around.  This will help keep your kitchen clean and will also make for less clean up later.

5)  Try the 15 minute rule.  Set the timer for 15 minutes to clean, pick up, and organize.  Sometimes we put off tasks because they seem so overwhelming.  If we know that we only have to clean for 15 minutes, then we’ll be more likely to get in there and tackle projects.

What kitchen organizing tips can you share?

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