HomeGoods quality

Hello all! So a couple weeks ago a reader asked me about the quality of the HomeGoods furniture that I own and I thought that was a great question. I’m sure everyone has different experiences – but I figured it would be worthwhile to discuss here on the blog.

I think HomeGoods is a great option when it comes to furniture. Their prices are decent (for the most part), but finding something specific is kind of hit or miss. If you see something one week it probably won’t be there the next. When I was asked about their furniture and really thought about it, I realized I only have a few chairs and a few other items from there. I know at times it seems like half my house is HG stuff! Even I was surprised when I counted them up in my head.

I do have a couple benches I’ve purchased over the years. One sits at the foot of our bed and I’ve had that one for a really long time. I have a redo planned for it but it’s held up great and it’s surprisingly comfortable.

I got this little bench that used to sit at our kitchen table and love it too:

I took the seats off and spray painted it (I bought it in black) and I still love it.

I haven’t had any issues with anything I’ve bought from there. I’m trying to think but I can’t think of any problems. Sometimes things are a bit wobbly and I’ll have to tighten them up. But overall I’ve been pleased.

I do have a few chairs I’ve purchased and a few of them are brand name -- the one in our bedroom is Lane:

My husband LOVES that chair.

I think the quality is fine, but sometimes I do notice things that are ever-so-slightly off. Like one duvet cover I bought had a button missing. A tufted button on the bench may be loose. The nail head trim on my blue chair in the living room isn’t perfectly aligned:

So I don’t know if they are overstock or if they are sent the HG way because they don’t meet inspections. I suppose it’s a little bit of both. The issues are always so small you wouldn't even notice them. Same goes for some of the clothing I’ve purchased at TJ Maxx – but some of it has little imperfections and some I can’t find any issues with.

And sometimes there are items that are kind of a mess, and you can get them for an even better deal. :) I did that with our side table in the basement and added a new tabletop:

Overall I’m always really happy with what I buy there. I’ve had a few rugs from HG and some hold up great (usually wool), some don’t at all. The rug I had in our family room for years didn’t fair well at all, but the new one is wool and is doing great. But that’s par for the course at a place like that, I think anyway.

You just need to look over the item really well before buying. And some things like sticky drawers or uneven legs can be fixed. I always keep the tags on the item for a few days so I can live with it and take it back if needed.

Generally I’m happier with the quality of HomeGoods items than I am my IKEA pieces – and they are pretty similar in price most of the time. (And I don’t have to drive two hours to get them, bonus!)

What do you think? Have you purchased from HG and are you happy with the quality? I haven’t tried any larger pieces like dressers so I can’t speak to those. Do you have a favorite piece of furniture from there? I think mine is the étagère/bookcase in the photo above. :)

I’ll scratch your back…

Hello all! How are you on this beautiful (chilly!) day? I’ve noticed our plants are taking FOREVER to bloom this year – have you? I’m not surprised but I didn’t realize how late until I looked back at an old post from a couple years back. One of my favorite flowering bushes was in full bloom at the end of March -- it’s just now starting up in late April/early May this year. It’s going to be a short season!

Anyway, I’m on the look out for a couple things and I thought who better to ask for help than all of you? You guys are so helpful when I mention something that I’m looking for. But first I thought I would share some info on a couple things I get asked about a TON, a lot lately in particular.

The first is our family room rug: 

I got it last year and still love it. It’s a 9 by 12 and I got it from HomeGoods. Many have asked for a brand name and when we laid it down I couldn’t find a tag on the back. But I’m a dummy. The brand name is stamped around the edge of the rug. So…the rug is a Broyhill rug, but I can’t find it anywhere online! I don’t have a specific name for the actual design.

When I looked at Broyhill rugs online they didn’t have a lot of this more transitional/contemporary design – so I’m stumped.

Because I couldn’t find it I did some online shopping for you and these are similar:

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I almost got that one for our master bedroom. It looks so plush in the close up photos.

I’ve purchased a couple rugs from Rugs USA and been really happy with the quality. Very pleased really. They’re running a Mother’s Day sale right now, but they do a couple huge sales a year and I wait for those to buy.

I liked the design on this one as well:

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And this used to be in our family room – I still love it! It was just a bit too graphic and too small for the space:

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Those are great options if you’re looking for a similar design. I saw a rug very similar to mine at HomeGoods a couple weeks ago, so there’s still a chance you may get one near you.

Also, I get asked about my starburst mirror over the mantel all the time and I KNOW! I love it too:

That’s another HG find years back and I have looked for a name on it and there's nothing. Usually I’ll find the same design on subsequent trips in there but I’ve never seen this one again. I always have my eye out!

I’ve even looked online for a similar look and can’t find one. I did love these though:

 

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That one is from Pier 1 and I really love it.

This one is Wayfair and they have a darker version as well:

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I love it in the gold finish though.

OK, now I need your help! So a couple months back we had our first toilet issue in the powder room. Of course the first time in ten years happens after we put the hardwoods in, but I wouldn’t have put them in if I wasn’t sure they would hold up:

They did – it was quite impressive. But the rug that was in there wasn’t spared – I thought about dry cleaning it but does that disinfect it? I honestly don’t know. Because it was small I threw it in the washer on gentle, which wasn’t smart. The rug actually came out pretty decent but the backing was all jacked up. It was a MESS.

So I had to throw it out and I’m so bummed. I got it at Target a few years back and from what I can tell they don’t carry it online anymore. If any of you see it or know of one will you let me know?:

The colors in it are PERFECT. Right now we’re just going without one and it’s fine, but I do love that rug and would love to replace it.

Also, you got a peek of this chair earlier this week, but this was another HG find last year:

I may as well title this the HomeGoods post.

Someone asked about the quality of HomeGoods furniture the other day and I’ve been pleased so far. All I have from there are a few chairs and smaller things like benches. Most of the items are brand names that don’t quite meet the inspection process, from what I can tell. Usually I can find something that is just slightly off with the items, sometimes nothing at all.

Anyway, I’m hoping to find one more of this chair. I was considering it for the dining room/library set up but I doubt three more of this exact chair will ever happen. So now I’m thinking I’d like to have two in our living room. It’s surprisingly comfortable and I love the low profile of it.

And the nail head accents, of course. :)

The placemat pillow is my own. :)

There’s no marking of any kind on this chair either, so if you’ve seen it I would love to know! I would love you forever!

I’ll keep my eye out for my items and let you know if I see them too. If there are other items in our home you are curious about, let me know in the comments and I’ll give you resources or brand names.

The family room sectional

First of all, THANKS for all the thoughts on the bathroom ideas I shared earlier this week! Many of you with multiple kids mentioned our type of bathroom is a Godsend, which I can totally get. And I was so excited so many of you mentioned the solar tube skylights – I’ve been wanting to put those in our master bathroom for YEARS. I didn’t even think of them for that room so I’ll have to compare the costs of doing that and the window. And for some reason I thought you had to get them online but I saw them at Lowe’s yesterday – I’m so happy to hear they’ve worked well for so many of you!

OK, next topic. :) I mentioned in the paint colors post that question I get the most is about the color of our family room. A pretty close second is about our sectional we purchased a few years ago:

This is it for “real” – pillows smushed and back cushions smashed.

We got this sofa three years ago after paying off our massive debt. It was our first big purchase that we paid cash for and it was a GREAT feeling. I searched for months to find the right, quality sectional that would fit this room. We ended up with the Lansbury sectional from Arhaus and we LOVE IT. It rocks my world, still.

Many have asked how it’s held up and how the cushions do and that photo above shows that, yes, the back cushions do get smashed:

Mostly totally because of this guy:

It’s rare that he sleeps ON the seat cushions and not the back.

As you can see above they do get pushed out of shape:

But thankfully it only takes a few minutes to get them looking good again. I LOVE this about this sofa.

I just put them on the floor and push my fists around on them to get them fluffed up again:

I work the filling back into the areas that need it. It takes less than a minute to get each one fluffed up again. And honestly, I rarely do this. That level of smush is from about six months of the dog and cats walking and laying on the backs of the sofa. So it’s not something I do often.

I am also in love with the fabric that we picked. I shied away from micro fabric, but when we were searching so many of you talked about how much you loved it. Our sofa is covered in micro denier, which is slightly different:

I’m not sure exactly what the technical differences are but I’ve noticed two differences as far as using it – it’s incredibly soft, seriously like bunny butt soft. And it doesn’t leave quite the shadows that the micro fabric does. You know, the light and dark when you wipe your hand over it?

But this stuff is very much like microfiber in that it cleans up incredibly well. Every few months or so I’ll take a wet rag and just scrub any spots I see and they disappear. Here’s some frosting that I found, and how it looked right after I wiped it off:

   

I never use any cleaners or chemicals on it – there’s just no need. Plain water gets everything out. (Although I have had it cleaned a couple times when we’ve had the carpets done over the years.) We’ve not had any major spills like red wine, so I can’t speak to that. But liquids do tend to bead up and not soak in, so that helps.

Also, our dog will occasionally “dig” at the cushions and so far we haven’t seen any damage from that. Also, the cats claws haven’t caused any issues either. It really is an incredible fabric and I would highly recommend it if you have animals or kids!

So after about five minutes of punching and rolling the stuffing in the back cushions, they’re back to looking brand new again:

This sectional was probably our biggest furniture purchase ever – well, it was for one item. We spent just as much for a sofa and love seat (that obviously offer a bit more seating), but this one is easily the best purchase we’ve ever made. It will stand the test of time, I have no doubt in my mind.

I wanted a quality piece that we wouldn’t have to change out for years and this is it:

When we were on the hunt for a new sectional many of you shared your experiences with different brands on this post – check out the comments for some helpful info! At the time I was looking into Pottery Barn and IKEA as well.

Do you have a sofa or sectional you love? Any you’ve had good or bad experiences with?

As seen on TV

Hello my friends! It’s almost the weekend and I am happy to see it approaching! Anything fun planned?

So I always wonder about the “as seen on TV” stuff – you know, the slicers and dicers and curlers and magic doodads that fix everything? Back in the day I wanted to start a blog about just those products, but I figured that would get expensive fast. I don’t even buy many of them, but I love hearing how things work out for people.

And then the other day I thought…I have a blog – why not do it? (Occasionally.) So this is my first review, and I threw in a simple recipe to go with it. :)

I asked for this one for Christmas and my parents got it (and one for themselves!) cause it seemed like it worked and was easy to use:

 

They ALL look like they work and are easy to use on the commercials though, that’s how they get ya!

It’s real name is Chop Magic and I decided to test it out on one of my favorite recipes – homemade salsa:

My late father-in-law taught me how to make a great salsa and it’s so easy. I add two things that are a must (in my opinion) – cilantro and a bit of garlic.

You’ll need:

Tomatoes (I like roma)
Red onion
Garlic
Lime
Cilantro
Serrano pepper
Jalapeño pepper

Notice I didn’t say amounts – you just kind of add each one till it tastes the way you want it. I like a lot of cilantro and a little bit of pepper, but it will depend on how hot you can take it.

I do have to say quickly that my father-in-law (who was from Mexico) would be cursing me right now for using this tool, but I think he secretly would have liked it. ;)

So the pictures promise big things, like a whole (photoshopped) onion that appears to be easily chopped:

I didn’t quite believe it but I decided to use the larger chop grate and tried one of the whole tomatoes, which would surely be easier to chop than a whole onion:

Uhhh, no. Do not try a whole vegetable. :)

DO slice it up (I did thick slices because I like mine chunky) and then do it:

That worked like a charm and I was on a roll. It really does slice the slices quite easily.

Because I like the onion chunks a bit smaller, I sliced those thin and then used the smaller chop grate:

So one small slice of red onion was really hard to get through there and I may or may not have put it on the floor and stepped on it to get it through. :) It’s the only way I could get it to cut.

I’m thinking a whole onion is NOT going to go through there, even with the larger grate. Just a guess. But the smaller stuff was great! I sliced the jalapeño and serrano and placed them on there as well to chop them even smaller and it worked great for those too.

After all the chopping was done I added a good amount of cilantro (just torn into pieces), juice from a half a lime and then some salt:

DELISH. It is so chunky and fresh and so good. I went a little heavier on the peppers this time and wowza, it is hotter than usual. My father-in-law would be VERY proud of me for that one.

Here’s what I ended up using:

Five roma tomatoes
Half of a small red onion
One clove garlic
Juice from half of a lime
Cilantro to taste (I like a lot)
Less than half of serrano pepper
Less than half of jalapeño pepper (and it was hot!)
Salt to taste

You could use just a bit of one type of pepper if you don’t like it hot at all. Sometimes I just use some of a serrano and that’s it.

Overall I actually quite liked this little chopper – it worked really well for the most part. I made the process go much faster for sure and I liked that I could just mix everything in the container.

Do you have one of these choppers? It came with the Perfect Tortilla Bowl so that may have to be the next review. ;) 

Home decor in the gardening section

Hey all! Hello FRIDAY! I’m SO HAPPY the weekend is here. :) And we have a huge snowstorm coming too – I’ve just given up and decided I’ll just enjoy being snowed in for a few more days. Spring will come eventually…I think.

I think I’ve taken approximately 25 trips to hardware stores in the past week, and on my last walk through Lowe’s I noticed some really beautiful new items for spring and summer. They’re all supposed to be for the outdoors but I think most of them work better for inside. I thought I’d share a few of my favorites (and a few finds at Target too!).

There were a TON of candleholders – and a LOT of glass. These blue and green opaque holders were really pretty:

I bet they’d be gorgeous lit up! The blue/green planters below would look awesome on a shelf all by themselves as well!

These ceramic holders were pretty as well and were very West Elm looking:

Again, I bet they’d be beautiful lit up!

I’m not sure who can keep this much glass outside but I liked these hurricanes with the navy blue bases a lot:

These wouldn’t last long on our deck but I think they’d look great on a mantel!

These little candleholders are super cute for spring:

They’d make a great little vase as well. :)

I love seeing the new outdoor pillow designs that come out each year:

I’ve totally used outdoor pillows in the kiddo’s space – they’re super easy to clean!

Target had some great outdoor-but-could-be-used-inside stuff too:

Have you seen how much real vintage olive buckets cost? Wowza. Target has a cute version in the outdoor section:

They’re great for storage or filling with flowers (with a vase inside of course). They’d look adorable in a laundry room!

I LOVED these ceramic candleholders as well – they had small and large versions:

Loved all the colors.

Target came out with some great outdoor poufs last year and there’s more this season:

These would be FUN in a playroom or kid’s bedroom!

So there you go, some decorating inspiration in the gardening section! Have you seen any fun decor in the outdoor aisle? I bought several outdoor lanterns years ago that I still use inside to this day.

Have a great weekend! The next before and after party will go up this Monday morning! :)

 

P.S. Tickets for the Haven Conference go on sale tomorrow, March 1st at noon! We are so excited to host another fantastic conference this summer! Hope to see you there. :)

(More) stuff I like

Hello there! I have high hopes that this is the last frigid day we’ll see here in Indiana – am I crazy to hope? Maybe. But it gets me through cause I’m looking forward to the 40’s next week! Break out the flip flops!

So I’ve mentioned once or 25 times I’ve been doing lots of laundry lately. Seriously the most fun thing EVER. I was reminded of a couple products I love while doing all this laundry and there’s a couple others I’ve been meaning to mention for a while.

I love hearing little things that people have around the house that work (and don’t work) for them. Some of these are spendy, some are pretty cheap – all I love. First up the laundry stuff, cause you know. That’s all I know right now.

Have you tried these little pellet things? They are little tiny bursts of smelly stuff:

You pour some into the washer with the dirty clothes and they really make them smell amazing. Way better than any softener I’ve tried. We love pulling out a towel a week after washing and having it smell so fresh. We use a little more than it says to and don’t use them on every load, but they really do work well. The aren’t cheap – a big bottle costs about $8 if I remember right, but it will last a while.

Sometimes I can be a lazy launderer (some would say smart launderer) – especially with the kiddo’s clothes. They’re still so small so I sometimes will wash them all in one load. I put one of these in with it and they soak up any colors that may bleed onto other things:

Sometimes they come out the way they went in – pretty white. Sometimes they’re really dark so I know they’ve done something. They’re fine to throw in the dryer too, so no need to pick them out of the washer. Let’s be honest here though – you still can’t go washing a red shirt and white socks together, but even then it does help. You know, if it happens “by accident.”

OK, enough about laundry.

We upgraded our phones a while back and I also upgraded my case. My husband first started using the Mophie case a while back and I was always so jealous of his constant fully charged phone. It’s basically a case that charges your phone:

And I don’t know how I ever lived without it. My phone would die at least once a day before. Part of the reason was it was an old phone, but part of it is that I just use my phone a lot. I’m on it all day long checking emails or social media stuff for the blog. These aren’t cheap in general but if you’re like me it’s worth the investment. They come in different charging amounts – I think one charges the phone 50 percent (it’s the cheapest), one does 80 percent and one does 100.

It’s also extremely helpful when traveling. Like this past weekend in Chicago – I was able to take photos all day and I just flicked a switch to charge the phone when it was low. You do need a special charger (that comes with it) and we have other devices that use the same charger, so that hasn’t been a bit issue for me.

Speaking of phones, a few of you recommended an app to me years ago and it kind of changed my life. I blogged about my desire to move from a night owl to a morning person a couple years ago and many mentioned this app – it’s called Sleep Cycle and it’s amazing:

So the app monitors your sleep patterns. It can tell (somehow) when you’re in a light sleep or a deep one. If I set my alarm for 7 a.m., it will wake me by 7, but sometimes if it notices I’m in a lighter sleep before that (you can set it for the time before 7 that you want – with 10 to 30 minutes before I think), then it wakes me up when in that lighter sleep state. So it may wake me at 6:35 or 6:45 or if I’m crazy tired it may just wake me at 7 cause that’s when I need to be up.

Does that make sense? From the very first morning I used it I was SHOCKED. I used to reset my alarm literally five or six times every morning. Now, 90 percent of the time I’m up when this wakes me. It is truly fascinating. It also keeps a record of your sleep so you can see what kind of night you had. It really is very cool.

I’m not sure if this one is available for androids or not, but on the iphone I believe it’s only a dollar. Let me know if you try it! (Here’s a link to there site.)

Finally, a little thing that’s helped to keep our kitchen sink less cluttered. A few months ago I saw a blogger talk about a drying mat in her kitchen (I can’t remember who it was) and I kind of thought maybe it would be a waste of money for me. Then I saw a stinking cute one at TJMaxx and stood there thinking, am I just wanting this because it’s CUTE or because I’ll really use it?

I figured I’d try it out because I have a habit of leaving clean dishes in the right side of our sink forever and never putting them away. They don’t dry well, they get wet again when I wash or rinse other stuff and then I end up washing them all over because I feel like they’re not clean.

SO. I bought the cute drying mat:

And I use it all. the. time. Every day. I actually tend to wash a few dishes instead of putting them in the dishwasher now. It’s nice and big so it holds way more dishes than the side of our sink, and they dry a TON faster. It also folds up and snaps shut so it’s easy to store away under the sink.

This one is the Harman brand and I got it for $2.99. I see them at TJ Maxx and HomeGoods every time I go in now. Love it.

So there you go, a few little things that I use daily that I’ve really come to love. Do you use any of these? Any great products you’re loving lately?

**You can see another list of stuff I like from a few years ago here. I still use every one of them. :)