Thank you First Alert for sponsoring this post. October is Fire Prevention Month - practice safety in numbers to ensure your family’s super prepared too!

I'm pretty sure I never slept as a kid. Instead, I laid in bed at night worrying. I worried about a lot of things, but what to do if there was a fire was a frequent source of my insomnia. When I would finally fall asleep, I'd often have dreams about fire. I don't know why this was so often on my mind because at the time I'd never even known anyone who had experienced a house fire. But nonetheless, it kept me up at night.

And now I'm raising two little worriers of my own. We decided that the best way to combat their fear is to make sure we are all prepared and know what to do if something were to happen. Since October is Fire Prevention Month, it seems like a great time to share some tips that we've learned, along with a free printable fire safety plan that you can use with your own kids.

{one room challenge} Doubling Our Dining Room Storage

It's week 3 of the One Room Challenge makeover of our dining area, and with our chair crisis averted, things are finally moving along. We still have some decisions to make, and a lot of work to do, but I'm really happy with where things are headed. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for everyone in the family! 

Better Homes & Gardens Stylemaker Event

Each year, Better Homes & Gardens selects influences who are "making style" in their industry. This year, I was so incredibly honored to have been named a BH&G Stylemaker, and to be among the eighty home, fashion and lifestyle bloggers to attend the invitation-only Stylemaker event in New York City. A lot of you have been asking me about the trip, so I thought I'd share a recap of the event.

Photo courtesy of David Keith Photography

Affordable and Modern Gray Dining Chairs

I have a love/hate relationship with shopping for home decor. I love looking at ALL the options and I start designing a room around each in my mind. When I'm shopping to buy, and not just shopping for the the imaginary rooms that I dream up, it's usually pretty easy for me to zero in on the one. But when it turns out that the one is either out of my price range, or worse, is no longer available, I get pretty frustrated. There could be a million other options out there, but once I've found what I really want, it's hard for me to move on to all of those other options.

That was exactly what happened to me back in the spring when I first started planning for the One Room Challenge makeover of our dining area. 

{one room challenge} Dining Room Facelift

If you've been reading the blog for a while now, then you've most likely heard a lot about the One Room Challenge - a twice annual blogging when a large group of design bloggers come together to each completely makeover one room in a short five weeks. 

I've participated in the ORC seven and half times. How do you participate half a time? I'm glad you asked! Back in the spring, I decided to makeover our kitchen dining area. I came up with a plan we loved but things started to fall apart quickly when we ordered an "in stock" table that turned out to be back ordered for months, and then the chairs we couldn't get enough of the chairs we wanted, and I couldn't get a straight answer on whether they were being discontinued or if they might come back in stock later.

First I started rushing to come up with alternate plans - I had that five week ORC deadline afterall. Then I stopped and thought better of it. I've always said that I'll never do anything in our house just for the sake of the blog. And if I had picked a different table or chairs just to finish the One Room Challenge I would have been doing it for all the wrong reasons! So for the first time ever, I hit the pause button on our dining area makeover and didn't finish the spring ORC.

Fast forward a few months, and we're back in business and finally ready to start and finish this project!

How to Install a Wall of Garage Shelving and Drawers

In the past few weeks, I've received the same question from several different readers asking for more specifics on how we installed our garage shelving system. I realize now that I clearly didn't provide enough information about our wall-mounted shelves and drawers in my previous garage organizing posts, so today I'm going to break down all the details.

Kids' Art Display & Organizing School Papers {Five Minute Friday}

When designing my boys' shared bedroom, I wanted to create a space that was stylish and fun, but also comfortable and functional! I added tons of storage for all their toys and books - low shelves that wrap the corner, a stylish cabinet on the other side of the room, and even hidden drawers in the bunk bed stairs. 

But with both boys in elementary school now, art and school papers were starting to pile up on every surface. Each week, the boys and I go through their papers to decide what is important to keep and what can be recycled. I want them to be part of the process, and I don't want to get rid of anything that feels important to them, but it usually turns out that it's almost all "very important" in the moment. 

I've discovered that we're better off keeping most of their art and papers until the end of each semester, and then when we sort through it after a little time has passed, it's much easier for them to choose just their favorites and the work they are most proud of. In order to make this system work, I decided to take advantage of the wall space in the corner of their room to give the kids a new place to display their art and keep their school papers organized.

How Lighting Affects Interior Design & How to Choose a Color Scheme

This post is sponsored by Babbleboxx on behalf of Soraa.

Whether I'm designing a space for my own home or for a client, selecting colors is always where I start. Sometimes I find a piece of art or a rug that I love, and I build a decor color scheme around that, but more often, I begin by thinking about the mood I want to create in the space, and then I look for color palette inspiration. 

HOW LIGHTING AFFECTS INTERIOR DESIGN

When choosing a color palette, it's important to keep in mind how the lighting of the space will affect the color.

Update Laminate Countertops with Paint Using Rustoleum Countertop Transformations

I have received a few questions from readers lately asking for DIY kitchen update ideas that provide a high end look without a renovation budget. Painting kitchen cabinets is always a good option (and I've got a tutorial to help you get a professional, even finish), but another of my favorite tips is to update kitchen counters on a budget with paint to create the look of high end stone.

A while back I wrote a post about how to use a Rust-Oleum Countertop Transformations Kit to DIY granite look countertops, but my tutorial was buried in the middle of a post about my upcycled bar cart, where you would probably never find it. The recent reader questions about kitchen updates made me realize that it was finally time to create a separate post about how to paint laminate countertops to look like granite.

How to Protect Your Family From Carbon Monoxide

Thank you First Alert for sponsoring this post. Don’t let the beep steal your sleep.

We do so many things to keep our families safe, but sometimes the simplest precautions are the most likely to get overlooked. Take carbon monoxide detectors for example. Do you have them throughout your home and are you certain they are in good working order?

I'm ashamed to say that, until recently, this was a NO for us! Our home was a built a year before a law in Colorado began requiring carbon monoxide detectors went into effect, so none were installed when we bought the home. When our first baby was born three years after we moved in to our house, we finally bought a CO detector for the nursery and for our bedroom. But six years later, these were still the only rooms in our home that were protected. 

I won't even pretend to make excuses for this... it's just a flat out bad decision! Even if you are a step ahead of us and already have carbon monoxide detectors throughout your home, there's a good chance they could be expired or expiring soon. I've committed to take the simple step necessary to keep my family safe, and I'm proud to be partnering with First Alert to make sure that your family is protected as well!