This Cold House // Replacing Our Baseboards With Envi Convection Heaters

Old houses - what they offer in charm, they lack in warmth.  Or at least ours does.  This little 1900 cabin is a drafty bugger.  It just might have something to do with it's lack of insulation on the walls and floors.  So when it's cold it is darn cold.

Last spring, when we opened up the kitchen nook to the mudroom, we pulled out our baseboard heater that was mounted along that wall - and the three others that were in the living room, kids bedroom and our bedroom.  Our choice to pull them out weighed on the fact that they take up so much wall space.  With the living room baseboard removed we could move our couch to be placed along that wall and we had already run into issues of Luke sticking toys into them - something sure to repeat with Cal.  So the decision was pretty easy - potential house fire and increased usable space meant they had to go.

Rather than live 1900s style and just rely on our wood stove (that isn't even functioning at the moment) we had to find replacements.  Size, safety and high-efficiency were all things we hoped to find in our new heaters.  I had seen the Envi Wall Mounted Convection Heaters advertised in the back of my home magazines and was intrigued.  After reading a few reviews, like this one, we decided to pull the trigger and ordered 4.  The price wasn't too bad about $120 each (check those home magazines - sometimes there are 15% off coupons in the advertisements section.)

Get Fresh // The Bouqs Co. Review

Free flowers in exchange for a review of "The Most Epic Way to Buy Flowers Online. Period." Well, consider me intrigued.  

The Bouqs Co. (the new floral kid-on-the-block with awesome South American flowers picked from the side of an active volcano as well as U.S. grown flowers for those sustainably conscious folks) contacted me about doing a review.  After a quick scan of their website I was in love...with their wit (their flowers were pretty nice too.)  I don't know about you guys but a good sense of humor wins me over in nothing flat.  Don't believe me...see for yourself.

DIY // How To Steal Art For Your Home (And Not Get Caught)

No matter your budget there are ways to decorate your home to show off your personal style.  It's obvious I'm a thrifting addict and I find tons of decor items and art at my local thrift stores.  I'm also not against stealing, repurposing or even making art from scratch.  Yes, I said steal but not in the "dress in all black slink into a museum and caper that Monet you've been coveting" way.  Things like magazines, cards or finding free illustrations online are all fair game.  Just take the art from our DIY industrial shelves for example.

Internet // The framed whale illustration I found online, printed on cardstock and stuck in a crate and barrel frame is one of my favorites. The camera print on the opposite shelf (scroll down for photo) which is another favorite is available online as a free download from Design Editor (as well as a photo of a vintage brownie camera.)  Both can be printed up to a 24x36 inch print.

Photography Tips // How To Edit Portraits Like A Pro (Photoshop)

Something about kids makes me want to snap a million pics and share them with the world. Maybe its how fast they grow up or how freaking adorable they are. Either way, I can't put the camera down. And lots of camera time usually means lots of time behind the computer editing the images. So, I thought I'd share a few of my post-editing tips with you that help make the process quick and painless.

If you're lucky you'll have the perfect lighting conditions matched with the perfect settings on your camera to produce a professional-quality image where no editing is needed.  Other times a little post processing can help a not-so-great photo look a whole lot better.  I use Photoshop and by no means am I even close to being an expert but I do have a few tricks up my sleeve to make my photos look their best better (I'm still learning.)

Not too keen on forking over the big bucks for post-editing software?  Try these free photo editing programs.

DIY // Faceted Baby Mobile

It's amazing how much stuff you can acquire with the sole purpose of keeping a tiny little baby entertained.  We have a rocker, a vibrating bouncy chair, a play mat and about a million little jingly, rattly and straight-up noisy toys.  So it's funny that with all that gear Cal is most content just laying in his crib and staring at his mobile.

And boy does that make me happy.