You can almost feel Fall in the air and imagine the beautiful crisp colors the season will bring. It also makes a lot of us want to start changing the colors inside our home too, and break out the slow cooker and make a delicious batch of your favorite stew. One of my favorite sites to visit is the Martha Stewart website because it’s always filled with wonderful ideas for both home decor, family projects and delicious food recipes. I was just viewing their Editor’s home tour page and it gave me the urge to redecorate much of my home, especially my kitchen. One room at a time I guess!

I took a look in my cabinets recently and discovered my storage containers were in pretty sad shape. It seems some were missing covers while other of my favorite containers were simply gone. I recalled that some of them were used to send holiday leftovers home with family and haven’t been seen since. While I have some good glass containers, I really need some good plastic pieces so that the kids can use them for school lunches as well. This  Go Green 12 Piece Plastic Food Storage Set is a great example of what I’m looking for in my kitchen.

These great BPA-free plastic food storage containers have snug fitting lids that will keep your food fresher longer. Go Green containers are made of a special material infused with nano-sized particles of silver that reduce the growth of mold, fungus and bacteria allowing foods to stay fresher longer than conventional plastic food storage containers. In a addition to being Refrigerator and Freezer Safe, the containers are microwave-safe and can be cleaned in the top rack of your dishwasher. They even come with a 90 day manufacturer’s warranty.

Ah, spring is here and the urge to get out and work in the yard has taken over, at least for me! I love browsing through the weekend papers looking at all of the lovely flowers, plants, and garden accessories advertised. It makes me want to go out and re-do my entire yard! Well that’s not quite necessary or monetarily realistic, but it’s still a bit tempting. And the big new barbecues and wonderful tools and patio stones - what’s not to love!

But obviously since most of us don’t have the time, energy, or money to tackle all of that, it’s still the perfect time to do some sprucing up and add a few new touches to the yard before the summer heat gets here. It’s also time to get your vegetables planted if you haven’t already - in some areas it might even be rather late for veggie planting. Make sure when buying your annual flowers that you buy the kind appropriate for your sun exposure - no sense in spending money on a lovely fern that can’t take the full sun during the afternoon since it will only get dry and crispy. Most importantly, have fun playing with the wonderful colors you can add to your landscape!

It never fails, spring fever hits and we start taking a closer look at our homes and our yards. Suddenly the paint in the den seems a little tired or the carpets are looking a little worse for wear. Then there are the old counter tops we’ve grown tired of and the clutter we can never get under control. But it’s never too late to start sprucing things up, is it? I was wandering around some great home sites on the web and just loved some of the ideas they have on Better Homes and Gardens right now. Sure, many of us can’t afford to do a lot of the big projects, but it’s still a great place to go to get ideas and color and style - we can always do something that fits our budgets.

For instance, there are some simple decorating ideas that can easily be done with inexpensive items found in your local stores or even the great secondhand stores around town. There are also wonderful gardening ideas and advice on choosing the right flowers and plants for your location and weather conditions. The trick of course is to not try to tackle everything at once or it will get overwhelming and expensive. A little at a time will lead to great progress and beautiful changes and updates for your special home.

I’ve been looking for the perfect gift to give my friend for her new home. She’s moving in next month and she’s  very excited about owning her own home for the first time. She’s been renting for years and most of the things she’s owned are due to be replaced, including many of her bath and kitchen accessories. She’s picked her colors for the kitchen, so I’m planning to get her something special that will be both stylish and functional. One thing I’ve just found that I think she’ll love is this beautiful cobalt blue ceramic kitchen canister set. It has a matching utensil holder that I think will be perfect as well.

Quality stoneware and ceramic kitchen canisters make a great housewarming gift as well as a wonderful bridal shower present. Canisters are a great way to keep kitchen counter tops neat and organized while adding a nice splash of style at the same time. I think whenever you can give someone a gift that is both useful and stylish, it’s sure to be a big hit with the recipient.

While spring is still months away, I’ve found myself lately yearning to do some spring cleaning. I think it started after we took our holiday decorations down at the beginning of the year. After everything was restored back to normal, things still looked a little cluttered. I can’t help but notice that the window blinds are in desperate of dusting and most of our rugs need cleaning. Not the fun stuff, but I know it would look and smell a lot fresher in here once they’re cleaned. Maybe we can paint some of the main rooms while we’re at it too.

I really need to address the kitchen and do something about the cluttered counter tops and cabinets. Once they’re decluttered we’ll probably need to do something about our outdated counter tops. If they can’t be cleaned up with some good scrubbing and brightening, I’m hoping we can get a reasonably priced replacement top and maybe resurface the cabinets. It would look like a whole new kitchen!

I walked into a friend’s home recently and was shocked to find how stark it was. Now I know I have a bit too much clutter in our home and trying to tackle it is a bit of a lifetime challenge. I heartily give the children much of the blame since they can’t seem to part with even the smallest trinket they took home from a birthday party or get rid of any of the puzzle books and magazines when they’re finished reading them. But I have to take part of the blame too since I keep a lot of books and magazines around myself. However I’m pretty good at organizing items into baskets and shelves and we even have a couple of rooms that remain quite neat yet comfortable. My friend though has taken de-cluttering to the next level where it seems there isn’t even a nice family photograph to be found or a small vase of flowers on the table. I guess to each their own? I could use a few decorating tips myself though and found some great ideas on iVillage.

They have loads of common-sense, low cost ideas for keeping a family home neat and fun at the same time. I’ve gotten great ideas for our kids rooms as well as ways to add colors and artwork to our family areas without breaking the bank. Staying organized is another ongoing battle, and iVillage has advice from others in the same boat that I’ve found very helpful. There’s also tips for things like planning a family game night, time-saving tips for moms, planting a vegetable garden, money-saving tips, and much more.