the functional home

Clever Storage Ideas for Small Spaces (Hint: Look Up!)

Overhead shelves are my favorite small space storage hack, and make for easy DIY organizing small spaces cheap.

Small Space Storage: Organizing Small Spaces Cheap The New Year is here; perhaps you’re cleaning house as part of some New Year’s resolution. If so, or even if you’re still just dealing with the aftermath of holiday gift-giving, you may be on the hunt for more (or better) storage in your home. Whether you need small […]

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Weekend Kids’ Closet Makeover With DIY Shelving (Easy Weekend Project)

Give Your Kids’ Closet A Makeover This Weekend With DIY Shelving: Looking for kids’ closet makeover ideas? Wondering what to do with a small closet? The best DIY closet makeover ideas don’t have to be expensive, take forever, or require the pros. This DIY kids’ closet makeover is a low-budget weekend project that’s easier than you’d think, and is great

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Ways to Warm Your Home (and Save Money!) This Winter

Has winter weather reached you yet? In our neck of the woods, we seem to have skipped from shorts weather to winter in about 36 hours last week. We’ve flipped the AC to the heating system, are scrambling to find the girls’ winter boots and coats, and are excited to test out some of our

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Is Poor Indoor Air Quality Making Your Family Sick?

Is your home’s air making your family sick? Knowing the consequences of poor indoor air quality is the first step to improving the air your family breathes at home. And improving your indoor air quality at home will help make your whole family healthier in the weeks, months, and years to come. I speak from

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Things To Consider When Renovating Your Attic

The new year is almost here; are you already contemplating your new year’s house projects? Maybe one of the things on your to-do list is renovating your attic. You may need better storage space, or want to add a home office. This is what we did in my husband’s old house after we got married,

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What Your Baby Really Needs In The Nursery

Your baby has a lot of needs. They need feeding, they need burping, they need playtime and plenty of socialization, and they need lots and lots of sleep. And that’s just for starters! But what your baby really needs in the nursery is another matter. RELATED POST: Designing Your Nursery On A Budget  To be fair,

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Easy Kitchen Organization Hacks You’ll Love

This past weekend my Junior Girl Scout completed her Simple Meals badge. One of the requirements for this 21st-century version of the Cooking badge was to tour a kitchen with a knowledgeable adult. Since she’s already spent a lot of time helping out in the kitchen, I had HER give ME a tour. She correctly

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Top Tips For Nesting On A Budget

That energy burst from the second trimester has ground to a halt. You’re having a harder time sleeping at night. Oh, and you’re obsessed with getting your house set up for the imminent arrival of your firstborn. Yup, no doubt about it, you’ve entered the third trimester – and the “nesting” phase of pregnancy. Of

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Designing Your Nursery On A Budget

Are you getting ready for your first child? Or expecting a new sibling for your existing kiddo(s)? Either way, you know Baby will need some space of their own. But contrary to what you may fear, you don’t have to shell out thousands to get Baby’s nursery ready. With some careful planning, designing a nursery

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How to Organize Important Documents: My New Secret Weapon

Think about it. How many hours of your life have you spent hunting for a missing piece of paperwork? Your Social Security Card. Your kids’ birth certificates. The contact info for that guy who unplugged your drain a few years back. The warranty and purchase information for an appliance on the fritz. Time and time

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Five Must-Haves For a Kids’ Art Table That *Works*

Do your offspring have a designated place to draw, color, do Play-Doh, paint watercolors, and work their way through activity books? If not, they need a kids’ art table. No, you don’t need a huge space to do this. Our kids’ art table fills a small corner about 2 feet x 3 feet. It’s a

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Ten Things to Purge From Your Garage NOW

Spring is nearly here, as my children keep reminding me. Time for some spring cleaning. Or making good on those New Year’s resolutions to clear out the clutter. Either way, here are ten things to purge from your garage NOW. If you don’t have a “garage,” substitute “attic” or “basement” or “junk closet” – wherever you stuff things

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Baby in a Small Space: Five Hacks to Save Room (and Money!)

It’s a fact of life. As the crowded image above suggests, baby gear takes up a LOT of space. So how do you manage a baby in a SMALL space? We were facing this prospect when I was pregnant with Kimmie, and my husband and I were still living in his bachelor pad. We finally

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From Best Highchair Ever to Only Booster You’ll Need: My Top Picks

How do you know you need to find the best highchair ever? Maybe you’re a first-time parent. Maybe your second or third child is ready to try solids, but a slightly-older sibling is still hogging the highchair. Or maybe you’re realizing that your former mealtime solution no longer works. Whatever the case, you realize you

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Less Is More: Three Ways We’re Cutting Back and Living Better This Holiday Season

Even though the first week of December was rainy and dreary in our neck of the woods, the girls and I have had a super start to our month. Part of the credit goes to the fact that I’ve made some very conscious decisions to simplify our lives, both for the holiday season and beyond.

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