Tips & Reminders

I think it’s safe to call Moms the patron saints of making everything better.  I know mine is.  She came for a quick visit this past weekend and managed to accomplish what would’ve taken me months in a few short days.  By the time she got on the airplane back to Philly my house was more organized and better decorated, my fridge and gas tank were more full than they’ve been in a long time and my proverbial battery was re-charged.  I guess it doesn’t matter how old you are, sometimes you just need your Mom.  I have the incredible opportunity of sharing things I’ve learned from my Mom everyday through Design Muse, but this weekend she taught me some especially practical tips.  

Flip Your Mattress

This is one of those phrases I’ve heard many times and thought “I should know what that means and possibly do it” but never quite followed through on.  I didn’t quite understand the importance of it to be honest, nor did I have any clue how to go about doing it.  Apparently it’s a pretty big deal.  In case you’re clueless like I was, the reason you should flip your mattress is so it wears evenly…by doing so you extend the life of the mattress and get a better night’s sleep.  With two people, it’s a pretty simple process.  First strip the bedding and pull your bed away from the wall if necessary.  Flip your mattress end over end (meaning the foot of the bed should come up towards the ceiling then down.  A large mattress can be rotated 180 degrees, then flipped sideways (left side comes up towards the ceiling then down).  Although the ideal time between flipping varies by mattress, you really shouldn’t have to go through this process more than every few months.  It’s easy to forget (or ignore) however, so stick it on your calendar!

Clean ALL Your Baseboards

Again, this common sense, but it’s irritating and therefore often goes undone.  The most important reason to clean your baseboards is your health- things get awful dusty down there and that’s just not something you want accumulating.  Secondarily, they look so much nicer clean!  My Mom actually moved my bed (during the mattress flipping process to be exact) and cleaned the baseboards behind it, which made so much sense since that’s the dust I spend all night inhaling.  I was so grateful she thought to do it I wanted to pass the reminder along.  Cleaning your baseboards isn’t hard, just use a vacuum hose to get any large dust in the area, than wipe them down with a warm, wet rag.

Strip Your Bed

Although I don’t have trouble remembering to wash my sheets and comforter on a regular basis, I don’t always think to wash things like my dust ruffle.  Every so often you should completely strip your bed and make sure every surface is washed.  Your body will thank you.

Check out tomorrow’s post on getting creative with storage for some more great tips- we did some amazing things in my house you’re gonna want to hear about!