Tag Archives: home

What I’ve Learned Having Houseguests

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Now that the holidays are over and I’ve recovered somewhat, I tend to review our hosting strategies, successes and misses. Every year we have at least 1-3 guests stay with us for any given length of time. It could be an overnight stay or a couple of weeks. Don’t know about other people, but I get worked up. I just want to make sure that our guests feel welcome and comfortable, that they enjoy their stay and would want to come back.

We have a slight challenge of not having a dedicated guest room, but here’s how we get around that: the basement. It becomes a semi-private suite. In the case of my awesome brother-in-law, he’ll room in my kid’s room, or with my kids. No problem. However, I can’t necessarily assume that everyone will be as accommodating.

My must haves: No matter what the state my house is in, I will prep good pillows, a good air mattress (we have two), towels, sheets, clock, storage cubes doubled as nightstand, hangers, and coat rack. Don’t have yet but would like: luggage rack.

Entertaining: Here, I luck out again with pretty easy going relatives. My in-laws did most of the shuttling around last Fall with our guests. But, it’s helpful to have schedules and sight-tour brochures handy. Seriously, I even picked up at our library a few copies of “family-friendly” publications that have local things-to-do and set that on the bedside table for our guests.

Meal times: I’ll ask about favorite snacks and more importantly, kids favorites, if I’m not exactly sure what my guests are into. Putting together a dinner/meal schedule was also a super timesaver. It was more like a guideline, if anything, but sure helped with grocery lists. We had plenty of drinks on hand too.

Here’s my favorite way of setting up my towels on the bed for a cute “welcome”. One of my best friends taught me this a long time ago when I stayed at her home for a few days. Sorry, you might only get this the first time you come over, after that, you’re like family and I don’t sweat it out so much.

Abby took video footage of me putting it together (our first video tutorial), but the file was too big to upload! This will have to do.

**Update** I figured out how to add video:

1) Take the bath towel and fold into thirds along the long direction.

2) Fold into thirds the other way (short direction).

3) Take the hand towel and fold into thirds along the long direction.

4) Now wrap the hand towel around the bath towel.

5) Take the wash cloth, fold into thirds, then wrap around the hand towel to hide the ends and create a “bow” appearance.

Voila! Hotel-ish towels for your guests… enjoy!

Cleaning out the Closet and a Drawer

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We have a giant front closet in our foyer, and I’ll admit, it’s long overdue for a little better organization. I think I cleaned it out over one year ago. Before I knew it, the coats had somehow magically multiplied with hand-me-downs and seasonal additions. I was sad that there was hardly any room for guest coats.

So, a little trip to IKEA (we love it there), a few purchases and time to sort…

…and voila! There were so many coats and sweatshirts that weren’t being worn because 1) they’re too small, 2) they’re too big or 3) they don’t belong to us. A few things have since found new homes and other things are being packed away for future use. We’re planning on converting a lot of our clothes hangers to wooden ones, just a little at a time.

Think our dry cleaner will be happy with my little hanger donation? The plastic ones will find a home in the laundry room in the meantime.

Onward to the kitchen where you’d think we might keep our plates in the top cabinets… nope, not us. For accessibility sake, we have our plates in the drawers below where pots and pans are sometimes stored.

I had bought four of these plate holders three years ago, but was short two. I just kept forgetting to buy them over the last few years.

Kiddie plates just stack with everything. I love, love, love these holders. Minimal or no assembly, plates don’t rattle, they all have their places. It’s awesome.

(FYI: I have not been paid, given product by, or asked by IKEA to advertise or “plug” their products. This is simply a post about products we like.)

Hanging Frames Somewhere

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Pressed Leaves in Frames

This may be one of my more visibly Martha Stewart-esque home decor crafts. I collected a few leaves around our neighborhood and pressed them in between the pages of a heavy phone book (Yeah, that’s what they’ve been reduced to. Never mind actually looking up phone numbers in them.) You’ve got to love autumn leaves. The colors are outstanding. Ginkgo leaves might be my favorite next to maple leaves. I forgot about my ginkgo leaves drying- for a year! But I re-found them, and added them to the maple leaves and red oak leaves from the backyard. The question is, where do I hang these up?

I was originally going to hang them in our guest bathroom in the basement. But they’re so pretty, they could go in our dining room or maybe our bedroom? You see the struggle I have with hanging pictures and frames? I probably would have more things up on the wall if it wasn’t for my complete lack of faith that I’m placing them in “just the right spot”. This is also just one reason why I’m not an interior designer or decorator.

Amazing Spray Paint

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Register grilles - before paint

We turned our white air vent registers into beautiful hammered bronze registers, all with a spritz of spray paint. Love those Rustoleum products!

Hammered bronze - after

It was a lot less expensive than buying the actual decorative cast metal ones that we have in our dining room. But, we love those covers too.

In the hallway

Close up of hammered finish

We decided to spray paint the ones in the living room, too. Just a few more to do around the house…

Register grilles with new finish

Home questions…

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So, if you frequently read the Chicago Tribune homes section on Sunday, you’ll find these interviews of designers, celebrities, or whomever the editors are interested in at the time. I get a kick out of them, personally.

What item in your home shouts “Julie Tiu lives here!” That might have to be some of the architectural elements in the home, like the newel posts at the staircase which I love, or the front door. But then, maybe it’s the crazy artsy mess in the basement.

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One thing on your nightstand: A Midwest Living magazine

One thing you have in your house from your childhood: I have lots of things, let’s face it, I’m sort of a pack rat. But, I’m glad to have my Little Golden Books from when I was 6, and now Abby and Ollie can read and enjoy them.

Three things we’d find under your bed: Dust, plastic storage with some of Abby’s drawings, plastic storage with seasonal clothing.

Most high-tech gadget or appliance in your home: Maybe the iMac?

If you had to save one “thing” from your home, what would it be? That’s a terrible thought! Might be the external hard drive with our recent family pictures.

What’s the biggest collection in your home? We have some nice art pieces: pottery, glass, framed art.

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What reading material would we find in your bathroom? Who reads in the bathroom?

Most embarrassing thing in your home that you hide when guests come over: I usually move the clothes pile (that sits on a chair in our bedroom) into the closet.

If we came unexpectedly, would we find your bed made-or not made? That would depend, but today, it’s made.

Best furniture bargain you ever got: That would have to be the buffet in our dining room. It was part of a larger dining set I bought at an estate sale. (See: http://tinybungalow.blogspot.com/2008/07/another-friends-home.html)

Biggest surprise we’d find in your closet: I still have my denim (handmade) jacket from when I was 12.

Do you hang the toilet paper over the front or down the back? Over the front.

What CD would we find in your player (or artist on your iPod) right now? I don’t actually own an iPod, it’s Eastman’s. In the car I have ABBA – Disc 3 from the box set. (Yeah, I’m not ashamed to say it!)

Where do you feel most creative in your home? Calmest? Creative – anywhere. Calmest – lounging on the couch, which usually doesn’t happen for very long.

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