Five Favorites: designer tricks of the trade
Utilitarian objects to make your life easier
Hello friends, happy Friday! This week has been a whirlwind, and each and every single day I’ve thought it was Monday. Until today! The weather here has been delightful, so I plan to finish work and spend the next 48 hours out of doors. We’re hosting friends next weekend, so I have a checklist of things to do in the yard (including my absolute favorite, pressure washing). Fingers crossed that this weather sticks around for a while!
Every designer has their own tricks of the trade, but there are some key pieces that I find myself recommending and reaching for over and over again- in both my clients’ homes, and in my own. These are not flashy items, nor are they expensive, but they are incredibly functional and will make your life easier- even if you didn’t know you needed it. So, today I wanted to introduce a new series, “Five Favorites”, to share my favorite little worker bee objects that will pack a functional punch in your home!
These are exactly what they sound like- you plug your lamp into the receiver, and then you plug this dimmer cord into the outlet. Then, you can make any lamp or plug-in sconce dimmable! They come in a few different colors, so you can match them to whatever surface you plan to use them on. I have a pair stuck to the side of my nightstand to control my nightstand lamp and my reading sconce over my head, and I use them every night (I used these strips) to adhere them out of sight on the back side of my nightstand). They’re within an arms reach, and I love being able to control the light in the bedroom without getting out of bed! BUT I also use these all over the house, so it’s safe to say that these are a very inexpensive way to improve your life, if you like dimmed lights like me (and you should).
Do you have kids, or cats? Live in an apartment where the ground shakes when you walk through the room (this oddly specific one is one of those iykyk things). Museum Wax is a hard, clear wax that you can stick onto the bottom of precious or precarious objects and it will hold them in place, even during an earthquake. I like to use it for tall vases, or things that I style at a high height- thankfully, Tina is too old for too many acrobatics around here so I don’t have to worry about much, but it’s a great and inexpensive way to give you that piece of mind. Bonus tip: it’s also great to use on the backs of picture frames or art to hold them in place on the wall, if you have something that keeps slipping!
If I could marry one of these products, it might be this one (or, one of the other options that’s definitely not kill, because I’d have to keep the dimmer switches in there somewhere). These silver wipes make polishing silver SO easy and less messy than other methods, and they’re great for when you need a quick polish or are in a pinch. There are lots of other methods to polish silver that also work, but I keep reaching for these time and time again (and just ordered another jar of them yesterday). Try it, and I promise you’ll never pull out the baking soda again.
These lightbulbs are my favorite smart bulbs, and I have these in almost every single lamp and sconce in my home that don’t have the dimmer switches with them. There is an app that you can control the temperature and brightness (as well as other colors- I use the red light in my bedroom at night as I’m winding down to sleep and a bright fuchsia in my basement gym area when I want to feel really energized!) You can also set them on a timer, or connect them to a smart home system (I use Google Home). Maybe it’s just me and I’m really easily impressed with basic technology but I love them, and they work very consistently with little or no issues! (which I think is a bare minimum for smart technology like this, but I’ve been fooled before!) They also come in different sizes, like this candelabra bulb, which I use in my Ivy Bookshelf Sconces so I don’t have to reach behind and click on the switch every time.
Listen, you can make your home as beautiful as humanly possible and it will still make a bad impression if it doesn’t smell good. Scent is such a strong indicator of how you can relate to space- it’s strongly tied to memory, and also just makes a great impression. I have two of these Pura diffusers; one upstairs, and one downstairs, and I have them set for different times of day for each scent. You need two scents for each diffuser, and I like to do a “morning” scent, which I have running from 7:30-9:30 AM, and one “evening” scent, which I run from 7-9 PM. I love something fresh and light for the morning scent, like Nest Bamboo or Amalfi Lemon (SO good), and Cedar Leaf and Lavender or Palo Santo for the evening. It’s so nice to just have these going on a timer and not have to think about it!
So, these are a few of my favorite tips and tricks for those lesser seen items that pack a real punch around your home! Do you use any of these in your home, or is there anything on your list that you’d like to share with the class? Please do let me know!
A quick reminder that I save all of my favorites to a “MY FAVORITES” highlight on Instagram, and I have more specific little luxuries for the home saved here. But I always keep my website updated, and you can shop my home and shop all of my other favorites here!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Love these! I was recently introduced to the sleek socket and it’s a game changer for when you need to plug something into an outlet behind furniture that sits flush to wall. There’s also one that splits into 2 cords which is great if you have one outlet but 2 nightstands.
This might be my new favorite category! I ate all these up & hope you do more like it!