Tag: home goods

The 7 People You Meet in HomeGoods

There are few people that can walk up and down the aisles at home goods and not get tempted into purchasing kitchen towels that say “Drink up, witches.”

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Ah, home goods, the mothership. There are few people that can walk up and down the aisles at HomeGoods and not get tempted into purchasing kitchen towels that say “Drink up, witches.”

In fact, I have a theory. There are seven different types of people that you will meet in a HomeGoods aisle that are bound to have their carts overflowing with another skeleton or truck and tree pillow.

1. The Influencer

Ohh, girl you know who she is. Maybe I even tried to be her for a hot minute. (Transplanted New Yorker?) Come on guys, you’ve seen her before. There she is… with her Instagram open… ready for an epic story. Not only is she sporting a wide-brimmed hat (it is fall, you know) but she’s wearing a buffalo check flannel button-down with skinny jeans and a boot moment. She starts off her Instagram story with a boomerang of the HomeGoods sign with a caption of “uh oh, haul coming soon!” Steer clear, I think I’ve seen her start fights over the last twinkle light set.

2. The mom who just needs a break

If she has kids with her, she’s not getting a break— but has the day off and needs to get out of her house. She spends the majority of her time going up and down the aisles yelling at her children to get off the glass shelves because they definitely will not hold them. She’s the one that you hear screaming, “BRAXTON, GET OVER HERE” in frames while you’re over in the kitchen section. By the time you end up behind her in line, her children have tears coming down their face while she’s calling her husband talking about how bad they are. She’s bribed or threatened them… or both. All children involved have at least one toy from the kid’s section that will inevitably be put back before they check out.

3. The “collector”

Hands-down, easily the most annoying and obnoxious of all HG shoppers. She’s the one that you see knocking down the door at 10 of 10 on a Saturday. Regardless of her having her children there, they are so well-trained that you wouldn’t even know that she had kids with her. They know that once Mommy goes into home goods you do not misbehave or you will get all fortnight privileges taken away.  They’re the ones that are calling each and everyone of their bookclub friends to see if they want the latest Rae Dunn collection. Much to your demise, when you arrive at 11 AM, the entire shelf is empty. They then proceed to go on to Instagram, and use hashtags such as #wipedout #earlybirdgetstheworm. If you aren’t a HG shopper, you can easily translate this to the IG accounts that find deep discounted clearance at Target. Same person, same Lularoe leggings.

4. The mom who actually is getting a well deserved break

I don’t think this lady actually knows that she’s in a HomeGoods or that her children have stayed home with somebody else.  You can usually see her wandering around the same aisle three or four times before she realizes that she’s made a circle and have bumped into several shoppers. She usually takes this time to multitask, checking her emails or texting friends that she’ll forget about in an hour. She’s usually the quickest of the home good shoppers since she usually gets distracted and leaves. God bless her. And by her, I mean me. Because this is me.

5. The Mother/daughter duo saying “this is cute”

These two take forever, and usually aren’t paying attention. They go up and down every aisle so not to miss anything. Since they both have a cart each, they take up the entire aisle. Usually, they’ll shoot you a dirty look when you just want to pass them. Even an excuse me seems rude in their eyes. How dare you come to their aisle! Most likely there is a project started at home that they needed to come out to grab some additional items to finish. However, this gets thrown into the wind after they hit the pillow section. They comb through each section touching every piece of product on the shelves remarking, “this is cute”

“this is cute”

“this is cute…”

“Mom look, isn’t this cute?”

6. The couple

These two are too big for their britches. Usually it starts off with just one part of the couple walking up and down each aisle with the determination that they can find something cute for their apartment or house. By the time they get to the Tupperware section, the other half of the couple has either decided to leave them and go back to the car, or jump headfirst into a full house renovation. You’ll pass them contemplating all new dishes, “oh don’t we need this for the bar? How cute would that be?”, and planning what their ideal kitchen would look like. Phrases fly around like, “go with me here… I’m thinking an island!” Or “I was really loving what they did on love it or list it, we could probably make that”

7. The home goods returner

The rarest breed of all HomeGoods shoppers, is the one that goes back and returns. From what I’ve seen of this breed, they are usually not the most pleasant. They expect to be able to find all the items that they need for their project in one HomeGoods, and they can’t understand why there’s no website. Usually they will opt for an exchange, since no one can ever remember which bag they put your receipt…and the whole store has been reconfigured after they left two days ago, and now looks like a Christmas wonderland.

 

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Cold Turkey

Three simple rules that could break any design guru wannabe’s spirit.

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Alright everybody: I called it quits. As of June 14th– I have not been into a Home Goods, Kirklands, or..any home decor store.  That’s right, everybody. This bitch is taking her own advice, and NOT even walking into a store. On July 14th I will be free to go where I used to go every Wednesday or Friday: Home. Goods. Yep, a whole month.

It all started when I realized that my credit card was out of wack– on top of that, I realized that my house was a much bigger project than I let off to others. I need to clean and organize what I already have. I could potentially be on top of my laundry and home projects instead of hiding behind aisles of tablecloths and Rae Dunn Clay pottery (sobbing so hard)

I said to myself, “Kate, no more. You can’t buy any more pineapples…you’ve welcomed enough people.” So, no more– until I go up to NY for my nephew’s baptism and get to go to the REAL GOOD Home Goods up near my parent’s house. That’s right, I have a plan. Maybe by that point, the addiction will have subsided– and I can find other things to do on my days off…but I doubt it. I think this should be a fun experience.

Here are the rules:

  1. No MONEY can be spent in a home decor store: Since I have a sick, sad addiction– I will not be going IN any place either because I know myself.
  2. I have to make do with what is already in my house– get creative and clean and purge useless items!
  3. Buy necessities and home improvement (paint, etc) items. I’m not totally cured, guys.

Three simple rules that could break any design guru wannabe’s spirit.  Let’s think of this as a social experiment. If you see me foaming at the mouth outside of a Home Goods, ignore it. I need to do this cold turkey.

I’ll provide updates as I slowly break down from deprivation.

Love you, mean it.

K

 

 

Thank You Cards

Getting mail in your mailbox, actually touching a magazine or a newspaper…it’s something that I will never see going out of style.

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Ah, stationary. According to most, it’s one of the world’s lost arts. As a writer, I find it fairly insulting. Sure, I get the whole “modernization” aka, Evites, not sending thank yous, and e-zines (just to name a few) BUT, it’s a huge part of what I loved growing up. Getting mail in your mailbox, actually touching a magazine or a newspaper…it’s something that I will never see going out of style.

I know for sure, that a blog on the internet isn’t the way to exactly..protest, but what can I say?

In the past couple of years, I’ve attended a ton of weddings, birthday parties, and showers. You know what? Every single one had a mailed invite. What it didn’t have? Personalized thank you’s. More than half did, but there were some that didn’t even sign their name..it just simply said, “Thank you.”

I get it, it’s hard to get yourself together after a huge event and then a possible move into a new home. My thank you’s weren’t even ordered until I got the proofs from my wedding, so I’m not here to throw stones. I will say, it’s kind of a necessity in my book. Take a wedding for instance: Travel plans, buying a shower gift, a wedding gift, hotel rooms, new outfits/shoes for the reception…I mean it adds up to even be a wedding guest, and guests take the time out of their lives to come and celebrate the bride and groom, I think the one thing they deserve is a thank you for spending the day.

After that long winded rant, let’s get to the point of my post:

Thank You’s! My favs right now, and where to get them.

Customized

Tiny Prints, Wedding Paper Divas…you get the gist. These are the easiest sites to get thank you’s in bulk– but you pay the price. A count of 50 cards can run you around $60-$70. The styles are cute, and you won’t get the customization at Hallmark. So, if you got the cash, opt in for this. A site that is customizable but is more reasonable than the other sites? Simply To Impress is cheaper per card than the other popular sites.

Lifeguard Press

Want something bougie and overpriced? Lifeguard Press is your place for all things basic. Not gonna lie, I go to this site all the time– but a set of 10 Thank You cards from kate spade runs you $20. That’s more than getting your name in gold foil from Wedding Paper Divas. They have free shipping, but you have to stalk your emails for promo codes, because they expire quick.

Home Goods

I know you guys are getting sick of me vouching for Home Goods SO hard, but have you ever been in the stationary aisle? Photo albums, gift bags, and a ton of greeting cards. If you’re lucky, there are a couple box sets for cheap. Grab ’em when you see them. They’re useful to have in the house.

Target

I’ve found that Target can be overpriced for some stuff, but depending on the kind of greeting cards you’re purchasing, you can get cards for $3.99 for a count of ten. They have a ton of options, and unlike Home Goods– you can see what they have available at home before you trek out to the store.

Anyway, I LOVE thank you cards. You can get so creative and send out cards for just being a friend. It’s a really nice way to show somebody they are appreciated.

Love you, mean it.

K

 

 

Home Decor Ripoffs!

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Is anyone else sitting on their couch on a Friday night watching HGTV and wishing that they figured out a way to make a ton of money and have a fabulous, Instagram worthy living room? No? It’s just me?

Okay, well is anyone on my same page about this: You hear about a store that is supposed to have amazing deals and awesome stuff, and you muster up the courage to go in– and everything you see is mediocre…and costs more than it should? Yea, me too.

I’m here to tell you that you aren’t alone– home decor is cute, and commercials and social media posts from various stores make you want to jump in the car and drive there even if it’s 10 at night. When you find a new place, the first visit in is like a blind date. You don’t know what you’re gonna get, and you might get stuck with a huge bill if things don’t work out.

So here it is: The top 3 most overrated places for home decor.

If you’ve had luck at these places, I need to go shopping with you– because I walk in, do a loop, and walk out after looking at a couple of price tags.  I can never find anything splurge worthy or affordable enough for me to pull out my Henri Bendel and swipe my Amex. (Don’t tell my husband I still use that card.)

Let me know, am I just looking for the WRONG things at these places? And if you get deals, what are you shopping for?

Pier One

Alright, don’t freaking kill me…but I can’t get into it. I walk in, and I immediately fall in love with a kitchen table that is farmhouse style with beautiful chairs and I can’t have it because it’s so much money and the chairs are all sold seperately….gasp for air… not that this happened to me. Although it’s featured on ebates rn, it’s a total rip off in there. And no, I’m not still bitter about the table, okay? I go in there, and I see a bedazzled pillow that my dog (or baby) would probably choke on, and it costs more than my gas to and from work all week. FORGET IT. I know, there are coupons, but it doesn’t help much. You can get the same, cute stuff for much cheaper other places: IE: Kirklands, Wayfair, NOT Joss and Main, Home Goods, and Ikea.

*Yea, I know Joanna Gaines has a new line that Pier One is selling, and since I love her– I’ll try to go in there again, because I’m a sucker for Chip and I want them both to love me.

Pottery Barn

NO apologies for this one. Included here: West Elm and Crate and Barrel. What am I? A Rockefeller? Not a chance in hell. I went in there during Christmas time to pick up a candle for my mother– one of those battery ones– and I almost choked on my Nordstrom cookie when she told me the price. Bitch, what?! One of those was $60. No way, Josephina. On that note, they have endless amounts of picture frames that are apparently dipped in 24k gold before they are shipped over to this place. I get it, I sound like Phoebe from Friends, but it’s true! If you don’t have to eat everyday, I suggest taking a look here for all of your home needs.

ZGallerie

I’ve never stepped into a store, but holy cannoli! It is expensive online! I watch a ton of YouTubers, and they all worship the ground ZGallerie builds on. Want something to hold…something in? $50 please. What about a purple fuzzy pillow? $150! I will admit, some of their accessories are comparable to what Home Goods sometimes tries to pull on us, but looking at this website makes me feel the same way I feel when I walk into a Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Ripped off.

 

Either way you slice it, I need to be able to rationalize my finds, and also be able to feed my child at the same time. There’s no way I’m going to spend the price of formula for two weeks on a golden artichoke for my mantle.

 

(I mean, if it’s super cute, I’ll consider it)

 

Love you, mean it.

K

 

 

 

 

 

What Did I Do This Week?

On Wednesday, my husband got home and we decided to go out and grab some unnecessary home decor to help us get our minds off of stuff.

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Hey you guys!

So, after a long and stressful week, we are finally at most people’s favorite day, Friday! For me, it’s not really the start of my weekend, but you guys like it, so I’ll post for you! This week, my husband and I were faced with some pretty tough decisions regarding his career, but we finally were able to solve it!

When we get stressed, we shop. It’s a super bad way to relieve stress, but we got stuff to make our house cuter– so that’s okay..right?

On Wednesday, my husband got home and we decided to go out and grab some unnecessary home decor to help us get our minds off of stuff. We went to home goods on 202 in Blue Bell, PA. Let me tell you, there’s a difference between good and bad Home Goods. The ones that get hit all the time…and the ones that don’t. This one– it’s a good one. It’s SUCH a good one.

We didn’t go too crazy, but they were just putting out their spring and summer stuff– so I knew we were going to find pineapples and flamingos galore. Let me tell you, I wasn’t disappointed. We walked in, and we immediately went to the mugs. #mugmonday anyone? If you go into a store and immediately put something in your cart– you know you’re going to be there for a while.

Michael found a mug that perfectly described his relationship with coffee. This one is pretty similar to what he found. I walked into the next aisle and found a new tablecloth!

Does anyone else have rules when they go into a Home Goods? Thankfully, my husband has caught on– and walks through every aisle with me and doesn’t stray. I promise you– you’ll miss something!

After debating some other items, we made a promise that we would throw more parties this summer. As you all know, I was pregnant and miserable last summer, so I didn’t want anyone to have fun. This year, I’m ready! We got an adorable pineapple outdoor tray as well as a wooden utensil holder, because I’m really rustic.

The moral of the story is, if anyone comes to my house this summer, they will feel super welcomed.

When we got home, we went right to sleep, and went right into work on Thursday. Today, I was off, and had plans of being in bed all day, but MP3 had other plans. He wanted to be up and out, so I put on my big girl pants and drove around to Marshall’s and Carter’s. (That stuff is in my haul also!)

I am super excited to be adding on another type of media into my blog, so please enjoy my random as hell vlog channel too! We all know I’m not organized to do this all the time, but I’m trying!

 

Love you mean it.

K

 

 

 

 

 

Home Decor: Entryway Edition

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How many of you are in love with those old houses with huge entryways that are perfectly designed? No one? Just me? Ok, liars.

When we bought our house, we were super excited to just move in our furniture and start decorating. Needless to say, a year later…and I’m just starting to realize what I love. As my mother says, I have champagne taste, and I don’t exactly have a paycheck that gives me what I actually want…so I have to improvise. To add to that, we live in a ranch, so you literally walk right into our living room/dining room. Here’s how I made this space more “homey.”

img_8741

The Overview

I wanted something that was practical with a touch of not so practical. (Get over it…how many pumpkins do you need? You aren’t making a pie) The little mirrors are less than helpful for checking your make-up before you go out the door, but they are cute and from Target, so they were affordable. If you want practical, Kirklands has some great pre-Black Friday sales going on right now. Each season, I plan on tweaking certain items so that it is seasonally appropriate. The more permanent items are more neutral.

 

img_8742

The Deets

Mail tray: kate spade (60.00) Alternate mail organizers

Dots Vase: kate spade (140.00) Alternate without dots

Entryway Table(99.99), Bowl (10.99) , Runner (14.99) , Owl pair (14.99), “Happy Thanksgiving” plaque (5.99) , “Give Thanks” pumpkin (12.99) , pilar candles (4.99) : Home Goods

Candle: Yankee Candle (make sure to have a coupon…those jawns are expensive!) This candle is Apple Pumpkin. (27.99)

Birdcage: Michael’s (18.99)

The two most expensive items on the table were wedding presents, however…you can always find cheaper options. In a couple of weeks, I’ll be updating the table to be more seasonally appropriate for Christmas/winter. Can’t wait what kind of items I find! Stay tuned.

Love you, mean it.

 

Home Decor: Mantle Edition

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Before owning a house, I couldn’t stand certain looks…gold was one of them. If anyone has been in my house as of late–I can’t get enough. I love mixing metals with different colors, and I have a big beautiful fireplace and accent brick wall that just screams, “PUT GOLD ON ME!” So, I listened, and the result makes me super happy.

The deets:

Make sure to mix up you woods and pick a metal. I’m not brave to mix metals JUST yet, but I’m open to it in the future. I picked an accent color of teal for my den, so I mixed that in with some gold accented picture frames, some dark and painted white woods, and some candles. My inspo came from Juliesheartandhome on Instagram. She runs a blog with her sister, and I wish I had her magical powers.

I divided the mantle into three parts:

img_8692-1I got the C’est la Vie and both of the picture frames from Home Goods. The vase was a wedding present from Lenox, but it’s easy to find an affordable version. The pineapple print is from etsy. It is a print from the TV Show, Psych. I chose to put a candid picture from our wedding in the white and gold frame.

img_8693

For the middle of the mantle, I chose a white and gold from Home Goods that was about $12.00. The candle and candle holder are also from Home Goods. The anchor book ends are from Target. The anchors are gone, but they have some SUPER cute ones available now.  I kept the middle of the mantle lower than the other two sides to keep it a bit interesting.

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The last part, I found these pineapples and frame at Home goods. I kept with a pineapple theme from the print on the other side of the mantle. The larger print in the back was found at TJ Maxx. The print in the smaller frame was made by me, and it the first conversation that I had with my husband in college…I made it with an app called Retype. I initially made it as a joke, and I thought it was a fun thing to put into the display.

The entire mantle cost me about $100 in total. When I started off collecting these items, I wanted to do a photo collage on a wall in my living room; however, I started realizing that my mantle needed some love.When you are designing your mantle, remember that it should have personal touches. If you love pineapples or chevrons, add 3 pieces that feature that in the space you are decorating.

Moral of the story? As my grandmother once said, “Don’t force design. Wait for your house to speak to you.” …but your house isn’t going to actually speak…you’ll just realize what you really want after a while.

My advice? STALK home decor stores and websites. Go to the clearance aisle and really look. If you see something…BUY IT. You will be driven MAD if you walk away from it, but you can always return if you decide it isn’t for you. I’m still looking for flying pig candle holders that I walked away from a couple weeks ago.

KK, love you..mean it.