I asked my mother-in-law to give some of her favorite tips from her 86 years of experience:

When she’s out shopping and it’s raining hard, she takes along a plastic bag so that she can put her wet umbrella in it when she goes inside a store.  That way she doesn’t drip water on herself, the things she’s buying, and the merchandise in the store!

Our daughter, “C,” and her husband definitely like the modern contemporary look. They would really like the dining room set pictured on the left. In fact, they have a dining room set that looks similar to the one pictured and have added several contemporary features to their house.

If you’re looking for new furniture, Spacify carries dining room furniture as well as other furniture that is modern and contemporary.

If you have not voted in the Renuzit TriScents “Transform Your Home with Tanya Memme” semi-finalist gallery, then I urge you to go vote today. In fact, you can vote once every day through June 7 for one of the ten semi-finalists. The winner with the most votes will win a $20,000 Home Makeover.

The picture at the top shows my choice of Renuzit’s ten semi-finalists. My choice is for a precious family who has triplets. They have one young daughter who tells why we should vote for her family. She tells their story in rhyme in a very creative way that is humorous at times. I hope their family wins because just having one baby is a strain on the family budget. I can’t imagine having three babies to take care of at one time.

The young daughter tells of the need for Renuzit’s Triscents to freshen the air in certain areas of their home where there is a frequency of diaper changing. With three babies, I can imagine there is a constant stream of diapers, especially dirty diapers. Can you imagine what the air must smell like? The little girl holds her nose, and I think that pretty well illustrates the situation!

Be sure to go vote for your choice!

Sometimes we get tired of a room’s decor and want to update it. This can be done in various ways, either by painting the walls, changing the color scheme, or maybe by completely redoing the room with new furniture and everything. In the case of new furniture, it’s good to look around and check out a furniture catalog before making the final choice. Whenever a room is updated, it looks fresh and inviting!

These are some reasons I would consider buying a tankless water heater whenever our regular water heater goes out:

• A tankless water heater heats the water only when you need it instead of keeping water hot in a tank all the time like a regular water heater does. A substantial energy savings could occur, depending on how much water is used (possibly up to 50%).
• Tankless water heaters could last up to 20 years. A regular water heater usually lasts around 10 years.
• Tankless water heaters save space. They can hang on the wall and free up some much needed floor space.

Lighting is important in a room to create the effect you want. In our living room, or main room as some people would call it, we have two large windows. This room flows into the dining area where we have a bay window along the same wall, so we have a lot of outside lighting during the day. In the evening, we use several lamps which is sufficient for us.

When people need additional lighting, they may consider adding a lamp and maybe a wall sconce. When planning lighting for a particular room, it’s important to remember all the different uses for that room and plan accordingly.

Lands’ End has a new product called PureLoft Pillows, the latest technology in allergy-free bedding. PureLoft Pillows are treated with a 100% natural Neem Oil which repels dust mites and inhibits bacteria that can trigger allergies.

I am giving away one brand new Lands’ End PureLoft standard-size pillow, valued at $25. It’s a plump, very soft pillow that mimics goose down. I know because I have one of my own.

There are several ways you can be entered to win.  (CONTEST IS OVER)

1. To be entered once, leave a comment with your name (first name is fine) and email address. Your email address will not be published. I will contact the winner by email.
   
2. To be entered three times, leave a comment and subscribe to my blog. (if you’ve already subscribed, that counts)
3. To be entered four times, leave a comment, stumble, & subscribe to my blog. (again, if you’ve already subscribed, that counts)
   
4. To be entered five times, do the above plus write a post about my contest on your blog. (You can copy the above text if you want to.)

I will pay shipping within the U.S.

Contest will last approximately one week. Ending Date will be given during the middle of next week. Click here for ending date. (Ending date was Sat., April 19th.)

In your comment, let me know if you’re doing option #1, #2, #3, or #4. Thanks!

Renuzit TriScents is having a contest with a $20,000 grand prize to be used towards a home makeover. You can go to their site for the official rules. They even have a Renuzit TriScents Starter Kit coupon for $3 off which is easy to download and print. It can be used at your favorite store to make your house smell nice. It’s always great to walk into a room that smells good! You can enter to win and convince them why your home needs a makeover. Just explain and demonstrate to them. It’s that simple.

If I were to win the grand prize makeover, I would start with our kitchen. I would love to have a large pantry. Right now I use an antique “broom closet” for part of my pantry. It works OK (plus I like antiques), but it’s not large enough. I like to stock up on grocery items when they’re at a good sale price, and a large pantry would be great to store my bargains. Plus it would be nice to have a place to store appliances. And our cabinets need refinishing or even replacing. They’re 24 years old, and have scratch marks from toy cars in years past. Our son even tried to etch his name in a cabinet when he first learned how to write his name. So the cabinets would be a priority. It would be wonderful to have an updated kitchen!

Which room of your house would you start with? Don’t forget to enter to win and convince them why your home needs a makeover!

I remember when we bought our house years ago. It was a ten year old house at the time, but it was new to us. We were excited to fix it up just like we wanted. Advantages of moving into an older home were that the grass and flower beds were already growing well and the blinds were already in the windows. Those were things we didn’t have to think about. There were other things to consider such as mortgage life insurance, homeowner’s insurance, and even flood insurance. But the most fun part was decorating and making it a home with our family pictures and mementos.

A&R Wholesale carries walk in bathtubs, and they even have whirlpool options. I wish my mother had had one of these. After she broke her hip, it was really hard for her to take a bath. One of these would have been great for her. These safety tubs would be great not only for elderly people but for anyone with a handicap. And it’s good to know that Safety Tubs are guaranteed for life with their patented door system which provides a watertight, leak proof seal.