It pays to be healthy and clean your home.

No seriously.

It pays.

Money.

Ok, gift cards.

Let me explain.

I enrolled in my insurance company's health incentive program.

And then I forgot about it.

I overheard a co-worker talking about how she redeemed her points for a $40 gift card for a restaurant!

So I got onto my account and logged in everything!

Every eye appointment, dental exam, flu shot, aerobics class, eliptical minute, and even housework!

What motivation!

It turns out cleaning house once a week = $.25. But hey, it adds up!

So far I have earned a $100 to a store of my choice.

It will probably be Target.

Gosh I love that place.

But points don't end until the end of the year!

With Mr. Free and I working out daily and cleaning house I should be able to add a few more dollars to that gift card!

So check with your insurance companies and see if they have a health incentive program!

Little things really add up!

Check out 'Our Home'!

^Look above ^

See the tab 'Our Home'?

I updated it with many more pictures of our home for you to enjoy.

I still need to take a descent picture of our living room. For some reason with its lighting it isn't very photogenic.

And I need to update the pics from our bedroom (which got new bedding) and take pics of the guest room. But, there is MUCH more than there used to be.

****Please check out the pics and tell me what you think!****

Speaking of Spray Paint...

Did I ever mention that we spray painted our fridge?

Well, not just any ol' spray paint.

This.

Which took our fridge from this

Sorry...not my picture. I couldn't find a good before pic of the fridge...but this is VERY similar. Almond and not my style...

to this

That can of spray paint *completely* updated the look of this fridge, and our kitchen!

Here's how we did it

Our fridge was already full of food and in use, so we opted to keep it plugged in and in its spot (only wiggled out a bit from the wall) to do this makeover.

We hung a LOT of plastic drop cloths around the fridge to block the over-spray.

There is a lot of overspray.

You need face masks. Seriously. This stuff is strong.

Then we did a couple of coats on it, being very careful to avoid drips.

Voila!

If you can, I'd highly recommend doing this outside or in a garage if you have that option.

A bonus is that I personally like black appliances. They don't get as messy as stainless steel and I think they have a more fashionable and classic vibe than bright white or almond.

But that's just me.

I can't tell you enough how much I recommend this for a cheap facelift for your kitchen. I think the epoxy was less than $10!

*********

Soon I will recap our kitchen makeover we did a year and a half ago. Unfortunately I wasn't blogging regularly then so I need to catch up! The whole makeover cost less than $500!

ORB Spray Painted Doorknobs

Yes.

We spray painted our doors knobs.

And I'm VERY excited about it.

We started with a mismatch of door knobs and door colors.

Somehow I ignored it for 3 years....

No more!

Mr. Free and I spent Saturday painting all of our doors crisp white and spray painted all our door knobs oil rubbed bronze! We love it!

By the way...its been SUPER cloudy and the pictures aren't great. Sorry. I tried my best.

Here is the before

Here's what we did

Took off all the knobs and screws

Sanded them down

Stuck them into a cardboard box for easy spraying

Aren't they awful?! So random!!!

We used these

Then we sprayed one coat of the primer, let it dry.

Then applied 2 coats of the spray paint allowing to dry in between according to directions.

Voila!

Here is a close up.

The color is spot on.

We are stoked to give our home a more cohesive look!

And it only cost $13 dollars.

Much cheaper than buying new doors and knobs!

We seriously saved a few hundred dollars for a similar look!

Woohoo!

I will keep you updated on how they hold up over time!

What do you think?

This has been linked to the

Happy Halloween!!!!

From the Free family!

Carl is a banana.

Harriet is a hot dog.

Mr. Free is a Greaser.

And I'm behind the camera and in sweats because its frickin' freezing.

Happy Halloween!!!

P.S. Tomorrow I will have a great frugal DIY project to share!!!

Pumpkin Crazy!

We currently have 15 live pumpkins in our home.

And I love it.

I snatched a bunch up dirt cheap for our Pumpkin Carving Party and have left them up for Harvest decor.

I usually keep all things pumpkin around 'til Thanksgiving. As long as they aren't jack-o-lanterns.

Can you spy all the pumpkins?

I love all the crunchy leaves!!!!

I'm a big fan of decorating your bedroom for the holidays. It makes me so happy to wake up and see the orange pumpkins.

Last year I bought a tiny tree top Christmas tree for our bedroom.

It reminds me of living in a Pottery Barn catalog!

Anybody else pumpkin crazy?

Just me?

Stacked Books

I've mentioned previously how much I love books, especially old books with character, and how much I love to decorate with them.

Now I want to stack them.

I've long loved the Spine Bookcase.

I hope one day one will just magically appear on my doorstep.

I just think the look of stacked books vertically is so interesting visually.

Until that magical day that a Spine Bookcase appears, I think I'm simply going to start a big stack of books in our office similar to this gorgeous picture below.

Doesn't all those books make that person who owns them appear so cultured?

That's what I want...

To appear cultured.

Don't judge a book by its cover : )

What do you think? Like the look or hate it?

Are you a book stacker or do they need to go horizontally to suit your tastes.

Do tell!

Pumpkin Carving Party!

Time for the recap.

Here was the food.

S'More cupcakes.

Candy corn and peanuts.

Frugal tip: I bought those plates last year at Target after Halloween for 75% off and stored them away. I got matching napkins and cups too. Think ahead a year and it'll save a ton of $$$!

We had chili and potato soup.

Homemade Caramel Apples.

Not pictured:

Mummy Pigs in a Blanket

Seasoned Popcorn

Spiced Cider

Some decor

Mini pumpkins mixed with gold glitter pine cones.

The mercury glass bowl and pine cones were 75% off last year at Target after the holidays.

I normally use these pieces for our New Years Eve Party.

However, I thought the glittered pine cones with the pumpkins were a fun spin on the infamous Martha Stewart Glitter Pumpkins.

Mason jars from around the house with a tealight.

A few glitter pine cones to make it sparkle.

So easy and it made for a pretty glow!

*Sigh*

I love my houndstooth rug!

Now the pumpkins!

I really shouldn't be friends with so many artists...

It makes my pumpkin look crummy. : (

That's mine.

I really don't know what I was going for with this.

Some Indie Bohemian design.

It instead looks like a flower exploding.

Mr. Free's.

A pumpkin carved on a pumpkin.

Carved are the words 'It's conceptual'.

Gosh I love that man.

Aren't they fantastic?!!!

The party was a blast and I think will be an annual tradition now.

Now...I'm planning my next party.

I'm thinking a Christmas Cookie Swap!

I love to entertain!

Design Challenge

We recently got this bedding for our bedroom

And currently still have our black and white rug underneath....which clashes.

Mr. Free doesn't mind though....

I'm hoping to use some Christmas/Birhday money and get a new rug for our bedroom.

Here's some contendors

My favorite....but way too $$$

west elm
walmart
west elm


west elm

If I lived near an IKEA the most affordable option would be to get 4 of these delish doormats and stitch them together to make one large rug.

Considering most would be hidden under the bed, I don't think it'd be a bad option...

I'd like it to have a little texture without competing with the bedding.
Which one would you choose?
Most are probably out of my budget, but I hope to use these as inspiration for a more affordable option!

Anyone live near an IKEA???