Love Your Home

Let’s face it not all homes are picture perfect (and even those that are don’t always look picture perfect). What’s important is that you love your home, no matter what it looks like. There’s psychological benefits to doing so. Stress-levels reduce when people feel securely attached, and can have positive benefits on our overall health. Sometimes we’re in transition, sometimes we’re living in a temporary situation, sometimes we’re living in one that we simply wish we could change, no matter the situation you have the power to change it (and it’s important that you do, remember that note on stress and health). 

Personalize It
We’re not suggesting that you monogram everything in your house, but if a poster of your wedding or giant initials make you smile when you walk in the door then by all means put it on the wall. Personalization can do a lot for a home (and our mindset). 

If You Don’t Love It, Paint It
Paint can be scary, but it can also turn a piece of furniture or an old mirror into a treasured item. So if you don’t love something in your home why not give it a fresh coat of paint, a pop of rose gold or yellow trim can really change the look of something old into something new. Plus we tend to be more attached and satisfied by things we create. 

Creatively Hide It
We can’t buy or fix everything right? It can be frustrating, feeling like you’re stuck with limited options in your home–perhaps a layout you don’t like or a bathroom you can’t afford to fix the way you want to. With the power of the Internet and Pinterest almost everything can be creatively hacked or hidden (in a very pretty way). Hole in the wall you can’t fix? Splurge on a piece of furniture you’ve been wanting to hide until you CAN fix it. Ugly backsplash you can’t afford to replace? Put a piece of temporary peg board up and utilize the space.

Keep Your Home Smelling Fresh

Remember the way your car smelled when you drove it away from the dealership? That clean, new car smell that was a mix of leather and dashboard oil? Some might say it’s the most distinctive smell. 

It’s lovely AND it’s clean! Isn’t it time to bring that home? Sure, lysol can get these jobs done but that bleachy smell can be so harsh on the senses and there may be a different quick fix with a more pleasant result. What if you could clean your home in a more loving fashion, and get a lovely, clean home in return?

It’s possible! Check out these three fantastic hacks to not only make your closets, sinks and floors shine but smell amazing as well!

The Garbage Disposal Funk

That smell is nasty. You know what I’m talking about - it just doesn’t seem to go away, unless you use this really easy hack to create a fruitier scented sink. 

Take old orange and lemon peels, chop them up and add to an ice cube tray with water. Freeze. Remove from tray and grind in your disposal. Cutting the ice helps clean the blades, and the peels release a sweet citrus scene that cuts through the garbage disposal odor.

Color Coded Closets and Pantry

Want a quick and easy way to beautify even the most cluttered of spaces? Color coding. It’s a genius way to organize a small space, and it looks like a stunning rainbow of colors when completed. Arrange the colors from hot to cold hues for a striking effect. For a yummy closet smell soak cotton balls in your favorite perfume or essential oil, place in a glass jar and seal with rubber bands and a thin, breathable fabric. Stick on a shelf for delicious smelling closet and clothes!

Smelly Carpet Fix

Sometimes your carpet can pick up smells you never even knew existed, and you don’t always have time to run out and hire a cleaning crew. Instead, give it a baking soda treatment. 

Start by vacuuming your carpets and asking your family (pets included) to keep off! Liberally sprinkle baking soda over the entire carpet (you may need to work in sections). Use a dry scrub brush or sponge to work into the carpet fibers so it gets down to the bottom. Let the baking soda sit as long as possible - this is a great job to do at night so it gets a full 12 hours on the carpet. 

Working slowly, vacuum up the baking soda. You’ll notice your dirty carpet smell is gone, and you’ve just given it a good cleaning at the same time!

New Year, A New Home

Happy New Year!

By now the tree is down and the holidays have all come and gone. Ready to tackle 2020? Your home may be back in it’s regular order,but there’s another important step for just after the holidays to help set the tone for the rest of the year. 

Here’s an easy-to-follow organizational how-to so you can kick off the new year feeling mess (and stress) free!

1. Take it all out

   Choose a room or cabinet to start with and take every single item out Marie Kondo style! Sometimes the mess has to get bigger to get better. When you pull everything away from a space, it gives you a chance to visualize the best layout to maximize the area. But be realistic, tackle one area at a time to avoid feeling overwhelmed and to concentrate all of your attention to that one area. It’s amazing how many things can be forgotten in the back of a drawer or cabinet. 

2. You know what they say, one man’s trash is another’s treasure.

   With everything out in the open, this is the best time to purge and throw away things you don’t need and don’t use. Make a pile of all of the items that you think you don’t need. Once you’ve set those all aside, really sort through them and get rid of the things you haven’t used in the past year. You can donate barely used items to charity, or make some extra cash by using Facebook Marketplace or a yard sale to sell unwanted items. Want to take it a step further? Organize a clothing swap with your friends, family or local community, you’ll be doing something good for yourself while giving back to the community that you live in. 

3. More than socks should live in pairs

   All those hairbrushes? They stay together. Those extra blankets and sheets? They were meant for each other. Put everything into groups (or pairs) before you label and put it in a box or basket. This will help you really maximize your storage containers. 

4. Put a box inside a box 

   Sounds silly but it is a great rule to follow when organizing spaces in your home like cabinets, closets, and drawers. It helps to keep smaller items organized and in place.  Make it a little game of Tetris! Consider how often you use items to determine how accessible they are.Have fun with it you might need to move around where things go before you find the right spot for all of your items. We love to re-use gift boxes and product packaging for organizing drawers and cabinets (if you are feeling crafty paint the boxes first for a consistent look and feel). 

*Bonus Tip: Don’t just shove those Christmas decorations back into the same old box where they’ve lived for the past ten years. Grab a few hangers and wrap your holiday lights around to keep them tangle-free. A tacklebox works great for dividing tiny decorations and keeping hooks at bay. Upcycle decorative Christmas boxes (and easily save them for next year) by using those to organize ornaments within your larger storage container. And we recycle egg cartons the entire month of December--they are perfect for keeping your ornaments from breaking (and we like to put the cartons inside of stockings for a little extra cushion). 

Rubio’s Cleanings Ultimate New Year Cleaning Checklist

Have you ever thought about giving your home a list of new year resolutions? It might seem a little silly but your home is your sanctuary. It's important that you set goals to manage it in the same way you would your own life! Or at least we like to think of it that way… 

Here’s Rubio’s Cleanings Ultimate New Year Cleaning Checklist. 

1) Get rid of all that’s snug in your rugs.

Clean all of the rugs in your home by placing them in your bathtub with a simple soap and water solution and gently hand wash the rug. We like to hang the rugs in the bathroom to drip dry and then hang them outside in the sun for a proper drying. If rugs are too large or made of precious materials hire a professional.  **always test spot rugs before you begin deep cleaning

2) Laundry quandary.

The laundry areas tend to be problem areas for dirt and dust. We recommend removing everything (even the washer and dryer) and cleaning the entire area removing all dust bunnies and lint that may have settled. After you’ve cleaned the area use a dryer sheet to wipe the baseboards before moving the washer and dryer back into the area (this helps to prevent dust from building up). 

3) Walls need love too.

It’s easy to forget about the larger areas of our home, the areas that you look at and use every day, from the corners of busy traffic areas to 6 inch strip of wall that you have never touched, they all need a little cleaning love. We like to make a warm water soapy solution and get the whole family involved. First start by removing everything from the area that you’re working and place a few towels alongside the baseboards. (We like to use diaper inserts for this task because they’re super absorbent.) After your area is set up start cleaning from top to bottom (you may need a ladder to reach the tip tops of the wall). If you come across a problem area avoid scrubbing it so that you do not remove the paint from your wall and use a magic eraser to spot treat that area of the wall. Bonus points if you have kids make this a fun project!! 

4) Windows make a big difference!

Although we recommend washing your windows every season, most people don’t have the time to do so the new year is a perfect time to wipe the inside windows of each room in your house. Wipe those pesky window sills and frames too. If you are feeling inspired and you live in an area that doesn’t receive a lot of winter weather feel free to give the outside windows a wipe too, but since it’s cold and rainy in Sacramento we tend to reserve the outer window for Spring.