Ask Anna

Our New Outdoor Living Room

This post brought to you by TIKI Brand®. All opinions are 100% mine. For the last 3 summers that we’ve been in our house, I have longed for an outdoor living room. I’m not sure WHY it has taken me this long to make it happen, but I finally have the outdoor living room I’ve been dreaming of! I guess all I needed was a little motivation, and when I received my TIKI Brand Fire Sculptures, it was just what I needed to visualize my perfect space! Two summers ago I bought two outdoor chairs, at the end of the… Read More

How to be a Good Hostess

I love having people over. Hospitality is one of my spiritual gifts so I thrive when I am planning a party, a get together, or just having a few friends over for the evening. I’ve always loved having people over but years ago the “getting ready to have people over” part used to give me a little anxiety. I was on the constant search for how to be a good hostess and not let it stress me out. Then a few years ago I got some great tips from a friend of mine that made the planning part easier, and… Read More

Budget-friendly Home Made Cleaners

I was recently asked, by Hometalk, to put together a list of the best budget-friendly, home made cleaners on their site so, today I’m sharing that board with you, as well as some of the fabulous recipes! Click on the pictures to take you to the original posts to get the full recipes! GooGone Do you love GooGone as much as I do? It will pretty much get anything sticky off a surface! Here is a great recipe I found for how to make your own, using just vegetable oil and a couple essential oils! Disinfectant… Read More

How to Clean A Sink {Like the Pros}

Many of us all dream of a beautifully cleaned, organized, and decorated kitchen. I work hard to keep up on my house but honestly, the kitchen is the hardest room for me because it gets so much use. Don’t you agree? I’ve learned over the years and especially hearing this from my Mom that I should always go to bed with a clean kitchen sink. I try my best and when I do, I feel more organized and motivated the next morning. Today, I am going to teach you how to clean a sink {like the pros}! Years ago…before I… Read More

Get Motivated to Get Organizing

Source I had a reader email me and ask me “how do I get in the mood to get organizing?” Personally I love organizing once I’m “in the mood” but I understand that sometimes it can be hard to get motivated. For me, not getting organized, comes out in the form of procrastination, so how do we conquer procrastination? Pinterest. I know that might seem crazy but here are the steps to follow to conquer procrastination and get organizing! Step 1:Determine what it is you want to organize. For this post let’s say we want to organize the linen closet. … Read More

Green Cleaning with Corn Starch, Baking Powder & Cream of Tarter

Did you know that corn starch, baking powder and cream of tarter can be used for green cleaning? If we’re being honest we could probably admit that we wouldn’t normally think to grab those baking items when we are cleaning our homes. But you’ll be amazed at what they can clean! Grease spotsUpholsteryTo remove grease spots from upholstery, cover the spot with corn starch as quickly as possible. This will still work if it’s an older stain but it is faster and more effective if you can treat the grease spot right away. After covering the grease spot with the… Read More

The BEST Homemade Laundry Detergent, and Why

Homemade laundry detergent is all the rage these days but do you ever wonder if it really works? I love the idea of homemade laundry detergent, that costs a fraction of the price but I want to know that my clothes are actually getting clean, before I jump on the bandwagon! So today I’m sharing a homemade laundry detergent recipe and why it works so well. The 4 basic ingredients of homemade laundry detergent are Borax, Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, Arm & Hammer Baking Soda and Fels-Naptha bar soap. I also added Oxi Clean and doTERRA Wild Orange essential… Read More

Encore Countertop Review & Giveaway!

A few months ago I was asked to review a countertop transformation kit from Encore, but since I had already painted my counters, I needed a guinea pig. I called up my friend Julie and said, “Please don’t be offended by this, but you have pretty ugly countertops, would you like a free makeover?” Luckily she just laughed, and then said yes! You can see for yourself how “interesting” they were, with the green leaf print. They always reminded me of those leaf sketches you’d do in elementary school. 🙂 I chose the Stirling Silver Encore kit, which I thought would… Read More