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I'm a stay at home mom of 4 cute kids. I love anything that has to do with homes & decorating. My husband Steve often gets recruited into helping me finish things that I start! We are making our house a "HOME" one project at a time!!

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Thursday, March 1, 2012

Making Your House a Home...

 The blog Mrs. Hines Class is having a linky party called "Making Your House A Home " where you share tips on how you do this.  I think this is a great idea & thought the title was pretty catchy too...
My blog is titled Love Of  Homes,
 " Making our house a "Home" one project at a time!"

I think there are so many different things that make your house a "HOME".
 For me the most important thing about my home are the people who live in it...my family!  
They are the reason I work so hard to make our house a "home". 

 Our family consists of me, my husband, 4 kids, a dog, a bird & fish...This at times is chaos!
Organization is a must & helps minimize the chaos.  
I think it's so important to teach your kids how to clean up after themselves, it's easier for them to do this if they know what's expected of them & if they know where all of their things go.  
I love that saying, "everything has a place".   
We have designated areas where things go, which makes clean up so much faster & easier.

A place for shoes
This basket is right by the front door & we also have one by the door going out to the garage.  
This helps with finding shoes when we are running late too, because they should be in one of the baskets.

*Coats:  Everyone has a hook in the closet.

*Backpacks
This hall tree is in the laundry room, which leads to the garage.  It also holds shoes.  The kids know that's where they go, which also helps with getting out the door on time.

*Toys  
These can take over the whole house...so we have different storage containers to put them in. 
This bucket holds all  of their "Bey Blades"
And makes clean up so much easier.

In the family room we have designated areas for Wii games & remotes.
These are in the console under the T.V. 
This trunk is used to hold more games and accessories      .

I think Chores are also an important part of  keeping up a home.  

I also think this is tricky because I didn't want my kids to be the type that would only help around the house if they were paid.  
So the only chores my kids get paid for are making their bed & cleaning the bathroom.  The rest they are expected to do because we all have to help if we live here!

They each have specific jobs  for cleaning the bathroom & they do it together & are done in about 10 minutes.  The first time I "showed" them how & they've been doing a great job ever since. 

The reason I thought they should be paid to make their beds is because I wanted this one to just become a habit & it worked!
 I love it now because whenever I go in their rooms in the morning their beds are made... 
It's just part of their morning routine, which is a great habit to have.

Lastly, I love decorating my home!  It makes me Happy!!
 Here are a few of my favorites:
Our wood shutters...we made them.

Our Entry Way...
Our Master Bedroom

My daughter's nursery...you can see more of it here.
How do you make your house a "Home"?

15 comments:

  1. Wow! I agree with everything you say! But my kids are not that organized! I guess in some way is my fault! My son also loves Bey-Blades!

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  2. Your tips are super and your home is lovely and so organized!I will certainly be implimenting these great ideas into my home as well,thank you so much! Deidre

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  3. love the framed art gallery! new google friend connect follower and pinterest, would love follows back

    http://cumminslife.blogspot.com/

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  4. I love all of those designs, especially the wooden shutters.

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  5. Love this post! Looks like a wonderful family home!

    makingitfeellikehome.blogspot.com

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  6. I love your storage ideas and what you've said about chores. My kids are 2.5 and 16mos, and I def want them to do chores, but am also torn on how to handle allowance. I had chores growing up, and we never had an official allowance, but we didn't hear "no" much either. I think I'd prefer to do a set allowance - maybe it would teach a better understanding and appreciation for where money comes from?

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  7. What a sweet post! I love that your kids make their beds every morning, that's awesome. I'll have to keep your little trick in mind ;)

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  8. Beautiful home, great job.

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  9. yay for creative homekeeping! how nice to find spots for everything right!

    new linky party opening up! c'mon by & play if you'd like!

    www.NorthernCottage.net

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  10. I love your organization tips. We have 3 little ones in our family, so I am open to any and all suggestions. I'm now following you back:)

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  11. I love your ideas. Great job! Looks like we have a lot in common, 4 kids, love of home, family, and decorating. Thanks for following. I'm your newest follwer.

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  12. Loving all the ideas! I'm in the process of trying to make my new place into a "home", so all these tips are great!

    Saying "Hi" from the friday Friend & Follow!

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  13. Pinning for the small toys storage, canopy over the bed (will need to make one for my daughter) and you well laid out picture wall! My house is so unorganized, but I am working on changing that :-)

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  14. You have a beautiful home. I love that y'all made the shutters. And I totally agree that kids should help because they live here too!

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