Make RealSimple.com My Homepage|Simply Stated|Newsletters|Real Simple Rewards|Photo Galleries
Featured: Adventures in Chaos| Nearly Wed| No-Obligation Book Club
Categories: Food & Recipes| Home & Organizing| Beauty & Fashion| Holidays & Entertaining| Health| Work & Life| Technology


Home & Organizing
Do You Bring a Hostess Gift to Thanksgiving?
Posted on Nov 18, 2009 5:48:04 PM  |  By KristinAppenbrink

Since I won't be traveling home for Thanksgiving this year, a friend's family has generously invited me to spend it with them. My mother raised me better than to ever show up empty handed to a gathering, but I'm a little bit stumped on Thanksgiving. It's not technically a potluck, since my only contribution will be pies. (I'll be making the Gingery Apple Crumb Pie and the Bourbon and Orange Pecan Pie from our November 2009 issue.) And I will of course bring a bottle or two of wine. But I need your advice on whether or not I should be bringing a traditional hostess gift. What do you think? Given my situation, should I bring something extra for the couple who's hosting? And do you have any Thanksgiving etiquette questions we can tackle as a group? (image by Justin Bernhaut for Real Simple)

Comments (9)|Continue Reading »



Home & Organizing
Decor Ideas from T.V. Shows
Posted on Nov 11, 2009 3:45:00 PM  |  By KristinAppenbrink

I'm always looking for insipiration and ideas related to home decor. And recently, I've been paying more attention to the decor in T.V. shows and movies. You can find pretty much any style of decor imaginable, and cull some great designs from them. If you're following recent shows, you might even be able to find the exact (or incredibly similar at the very least) products that the set designers used on the show. My favorite example of this is from the new comedy Modern Family (which is hilarious, by the way). I fell in love with the lamp that is in Cameron and Mitchell's home shown here: And I'm clearly not the only one who loves it. CasaSugar did a round up of similar lamps. Although they didn't find the exact one shown. I think the closest I've found is the Kathryn Table Lamp from Crate & Barrel: If you...

Comments (4)|Continue Reading »



Home & Organizing
Way Basics: Easy to Build Modular Furniture
Posted on Nov 9, 2009 5:43:16 PM  |  By KristinAppenbrink

By now I've become a pro at putting together Ikea furniture. Give me a rubber mallet and a Phillips screwdriver for the cams, and I'm good to go. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't welcome an easier way to assemble the furniture in my apartment. Thankfully, Way Basics, a California-based company, has figured out a way to make some very Expedit-esque furniture that you literally just stick together. Check out their video on how to put together the basic cube: The boards used as the basis for the way basics system are made from recycled cardboard that's just as strong as the particle board you'd get from Ikea and other retailers, but much more eco-friendly. And because the boards are held together with really strong double-sided tape you are free to assemble them in any configuration you choose. For example, here is the basic Tribeca Bookcase: And here is another...

Comments (0)|Continue Reading »



Home & Organizing
What Do You Do With Old Tennis Balls?
Posted on Oct 26, 2009 4:20:30 PM  |  By KristinAppenbrink

I'm going to take a wild guess that most of you have a random tennis ball (or 5) floating around your house. Whether from attempting a new hobby or a leftover toy that Fido lost interest in, they're just taking up space. But, there are tons of uses for all those fluorescent green balls, and we want to hear how you use them. Submit your new uses for tennis balls here. And while you're at it, share your new uses for beauty products too—everything from makeup brushes and empty lipstick tubes to your flat iron and old hair brushes. (image from Szlea via Flickr)

Comments (7)|Continue Reading »



Home & Organizing
New Pillows to Go with this Duvet
Posted on Oct 14, 2009 2:35:00 PM  |  By KristinAppenbrink

A couple weekends ago I bought a new duvet cover for the first time in about five years. My current one saw me through my apartment in college and my move to New York. It was also one that I had made myself. So needless to say, it was time to upgrade. After a lot of contemplation, I decided on the Organic Cotton Pin-Tuck Duvet and Shams in Sea Spray from West Elm, which is a really pretty light grey. But now that I have my duvet and shams, I'm not sure what to do about the throw pillows on my bed. I already have three 12in x 12in down pillows with removable shams. So I would ideally, just like to find (or make) new covers. I'm afraid if I did a pattern it would look strange with with the pintuck texture. Therefore, I'm thinking of doing textures in one...

Comments (8)|Continue Reading »



Home & Organizing
The Laptopper. Brilliant or Dangerous?
Posted on Oct 12, 2009 5:30:00 PM  |  By KristinAppenbrink

This isn't home related per se, but when I came across this unitasker, I had to share it with you. Behold the Laptopper from Solutions.com: I've taken plenty of car trips in my time. And I would eat behind the wheel during the 3 hour drive between my parents' house and my apartment in college. But I never really felt the need for a desk or table to go over my steering wheel. In fact I think driving with this would be quite dangerous. I'm guessing that the manufacturers don't intend for you to use this while driving, but I didn't find any warning of it on the website. Am I being too much of a worrier? Is this a brilliant idea? Or do you think this could be a recipe for disaster? (image from solutions.com)

Comments (2)|Continue Reading »



Next
 



Subscribe

Enter your email address to get updates:

Get the RSS feed
Subscribe by Category


Previously on Simply Stated


Advertisement




Search Simply Stated




Contributors

Archives

Advertisement

Sites We Like


Featured in Alltop