The air fresheners and fragrances we use can cause the air inside our homes to be more polluted than the outside air! Ditch synthetic fragrances today and replace them with green, safe, and affordable alternatives! It's hard to imagine living in a world without fragrances. They are an ever present part of our lives, found in so many products that we expose ourselves and our families to every day. Or maybe our families are exposed to these fragrances without actually choosing to be. I … [Read more...]
Simple Changes Can Lead to a Greener, Happier Life
From the beginning of my green and natural living journey, I have always believed that making small changes to my lifestyle would have a big impact on my home and family, and also on the world around me. And that those small changes would add up to greater overall lifestyle change over time. Then, the small steps I took would add together with the small steps I was encouraging other people and families to take, and together we could change the world. While that might seem like a lofty goal, I … [Read more...]
5 Simple Castile Soap Cleaning Recipes
Replace five conventional household cleaners with these simple castile soap cleaning solutions. Save money and eliminate toxic cleaners from your home! Castile soap is one of my greatest green and natural loves. It is made from plant-based oils and free of artificial foaming agents, harsh cleansers and detergents, petrochemicals, and anti-bacterial agents like triclosan. I use castile soap as the base for almost all of my homemade natural cleaning recipes because it is so effective. … [Read more...]
Winter Gear Storage Solution: Simple DIY Shelf & Bench
This is a sponsored post written on behalf of Behr. The opinions and text are my own. Winter is right around the corner here in Northern Indiana, and for all of us who live in cold and snowy climates we know that along with winter comes lots and lots and lots of winter gear. Our entryway becomes overrun with snow boots, coats, snow pants, hats, gloves, and scarves, in addition to our regular bags, backpacks, shoes, and more. Since we use this gear for as much as five months out of the … [Read more...]
10 Ways to Clean with Salt
One of the very first changes I made when moving toward a more green and natural lifestyle was to ditch all of the chemical filled conventional cleaners I had simply assumed were the best way to clean my house. Since that time I've experimented with many, many different natural and non-toxic cleaners and homemade cleaning recipes. I've found my favorites that have a permanent spot in my cleaning supply cabinet, as well as made some mistakes along the way. I continue to be amazed that there … [Read more...]
How to Clean a White Kitchen Sink Without Harsh Chemicals
I really, really love the idea of a white kitchen sink. A white apron sink is on my wish list for when we finally get around to updating our kitchen. But let me tell you, those things are crazy hard to keep bright white and sparkly clean when you use them for, you know, cooking and feeding your family three meals a day. Unless you never, ever eat at home, your white kitchen sink is likely to look dingy, dirty, and just plain gross without a little intentional cleaning on your part. We've … [Read more...]
On Creating a Home I Love
When I was a child, one of my favorite things was looking at home magazines. I loved looking at the tastefully decorated rooms, noticing the details of each piece in the room and the way they fit together to create a gorgeous and inviting space. "When I grow up", I thought, "I want my home to look like that." And then I grew up, got married, and we moved into our first apartment. We made it our own by painting the walls shades of blue in the living room and dining room and green in our … [Read more...]
The 5 Best Natural Laundry Boosters
There are two things that are just about certain in my life everyday: dirty dishes and dirty laundry. And sometimes I'm not sure which are dirtier - the dishes or the laundry. With my kids, it often seems like what should have been left over on the dishes ends up all over their clothes. My littles are super hard on their clothes. I used to spray each individual item with stain spray to make sure everything would come out of the laundry clean and stain-free. It was annoying and time … [Read more...]
7 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Clean
I often find it a little bit ironic that some of the most popular posts here at Live Renewed are posts about cleaning. I don't know if I'm the best person to offer cleaning advice because it's something I struggle with myself! I wrote those posts as encouragement and motivation as much for myself as I did for you! But, there's something about these posts that have really resonated with a lot of people; maybe because you don't like cleaning either and have a hard time keeping up with your … [Read more...]
The Best Way to Fold and Organize Your Kids’ Clothes!
Let me just start off this post by saying that I am NOT a naturally organized person or a naturally good housekeeper. You know those women whose homes seem to always be clean and in order, even when you stop by unannounced? Yeah, I am definitely not one of them! Because keeping a clean and organized home doesn't come naturally to me, but I wish it did, I have read A LOT of books on organizing, decluttering, and cleaning. Over the years, through a lot of trial and error and with many relapses … [Read more...]
