Switching to bars of soap instead of liquid has seriously cut down on our soap consumption and the packaging that gets thrown away.  We made the switch after a 30-day beauty routine challenge way back in June.  The little switches in our routine that have followed have been fabulous.  The only problem?  This one has also left us with an extra soap dispenser.  Don’t worry.  The dispenser wasn’t on vacation for long before we gave it a new role:  holding our dish soap.

This way we don’t have to keep an ugly jug of dish soap on the counter or constantly reach under the sink for it.  And you know how we love repurposing!

What about you?  Care to dish the dirt on where your dish soap hangs out?

Are you ready to embrace autumn?  It’s time to get cozy – maybe scootch the furniture a little closer and pull out the old quilts.

A lot of people enjoy buying seasonal decor.  We might, too… but we just don’t have room.  We don’t have a closet or attic to keep a bunch of decorations.  So we go without.  But it doesn’t mean we go without decorating the house for the season.  We just have to do it a little differently.

1.  Decorate with things you have and foods you and your guests will eat.

We love using food as decoration, especially this time of year when we don’t have to worry about fruit flies.  From a bowl of shelled nuts to a heaping plate of pears and apples, autumn foods are a perfect touch – the kind you don’t have to worry about nibbling too much like candy.  Bowls of fruit and nuts are the perfect way to welcome overnight guests who might be too shy to mention their hunger and wander into your kitchen.

Our all-time favorite?  Squashes.  They make a beautiful decoration; they last for weeks.  So we stock up early.  And now our table looks like this:

The squashes and pumpkins are all from a farmer we met when Martin spotted his little produce stand in front of his house.  We’ll use his crop in the coming month for soups and maybe a pumpkin pie.  Martin’s mom picked some apples at the park, and this little one on the right is too charming to be cut up for roasted applesauce just yet.  And of course, we have our bowl of nuts.

2.  Make seasonal foods that naturally fill your home with sweet scents.

A person can have the most beautiful looking autumn display.  But it’s the smell that really makes the display most memorable.  Gingerbread, sugar cookies, foods with apples, pears, and plums – there’s nothing more amazing than walking into a house with the fresh-baked smell of autumn foods.  Well maybe there is – taking the first bite!

I find myself adding a little nutmeg to yogurt and pancakes and any place where it might add a bit of fall flavor.  Even when you don’t have time to cook, a little dash of nutmeg on your food can really transform the taste this season.  My sister gave me this little nutmeg grinder as a farewell gift right before we left the US.  Nutmeg has never tasted more amazing, so if you have never tried grinding a bit of fresh nutmeg, here’s me whispering into your ear:  you’ll fall in love.

3.  Pull out the heavy blankets and pillows and autumn-colored linens.

Even if the weather is still warm, the idea of cozying up just makes life seem more relaxed.

The holiday season will be approaching quickly.  Don’t resist the temptation to sip cider and watch the leaves out your window a little longer.  An inviting blanket is an essential!  We like yellow cloth placemats and orange cloth napkins for an added touch that pulls together all the details throughout our space.  The placemats and napkins aren’t only for autumn.  Without seasonal symbols like pumpkins and leaves on them, they can keep working throughout the year when swapped around with a few other pieces.

So are you ready to embrace autumn?  In the end when the Christmas season rolls around, Martin and I happily finish eating our squashes and pears.  Then we smile and pack up four little felt leaves – our only autumn decor that hasn’t been consumed.  I’ll be honest; sometimes knowing how little we’ll have to pack up is just as joyful as picking out the squashes in the first place.

Do you do something simple for autumn at your house?  What types of decorating tips can you offer?

By now, many of you are probably pretty familiar with our summer adventure in the United States.  You know the one – where I got really brave and hopped in the pilot’s seat of an airplane, and where Martin got even braver by sacrificing the well-earned (and well-worn!) pilot’s seat for three whole months.

But what you don’t know are some of the details that followed – like the day we flew to Berlin and what it was like sitting waaaaay in the back of a commercial plane on the Exact Same Runway I used to take off from.  Then there are the occasional little bits from my journal – like the day I made my 100th landing or attempted to land but wound up bouncing 20 feet of the ground!  All of those little bits are right here on a brand new page where we live to tell:

Learning to Fly, Summer 2009

I can’t wait to meet future women who think about flying, and even those who don’t – because you all know than the idea of flying never crossed my mind.  You know what I would say, no doubt:  DO IT!

And of course, we’ll be sure to keep you posted on future flying progress.  Martin even popped the “Want to get another pilot rating?” question the other day.

Please check out the new page, especially the end, and let me know what you think.

As a final note, thank you.  Your virtual high fives during the entire process of flying with Martin (and then flying without Martin) made the experience all the more wonderful.  I sometimes wonder:  could I have done it without all of you?  All I know is how thankful I am to have you here with me on this wonderful journey.

This one’s for all the expats out there.  It’s for all those people craving things like these cookies.  It’s for all those people desiring a taste of home, assuming, of course, that “home” might include something like this:

Yes!  That’s pure vanilla extract purchased right here in Germany.  (You didn’t think I was referring to the bird, did you?)

How many expats have fought and struggled to find vanilla in Germany?  Pretty much every one I’ve known has craved nothing more… well except maybe real Mexican food.  This discovery also means that all you readers out there who have said, “Geez, Katie.  I’d love to come be your neighbor in Germany, but boy – I just couldn’t do it without real vanilla extract” can come now.  Hooray!

This little package of pure gold by Spice Islands is made in Iowa in 50 mL bottles specifically for the German market – everything on the label is german except the title.  My father-in-law found it at Galleria Kaufhaus for 7 or 8 euros.  Happy baking.

When we arrived in Germany two weeks ago, I found an email in my inbox from a sincere man offering to give one of you a anti-stink agent for your washing machine in a little giveaway on Making This Home.  Apparently you just pour his product in your machine and go.  I considered his proposal.  But in the end, I said no.  The idea seemed a bit silly.

After all, our washing machine never smells musky or moldy because of one simple trick:

We leave the door cracked for a few hours after we’re finished using our washing machine.

Later when we walk by, we just close the door.  The moisture still in the machine from washing our clothes has dried, so we won’t be growing anything or getting any disgusting smells.  No molds and mildews.  No money down the drain.  And best of all – no chemicals.

Have any of you had bad experiences with smells in your washing machines?  Or maybe you have a few tricks for avoiding odors in other places at home.  Please share one and all.

(Image courtesy of Flickr)

Over the last couple of weeks, we got to thinking about what it’s like to live in a 450 square foot house.  And you know what?  At this point in our lives, it’s absolutely perfect.  Maybe some day when we have kids it won’t be.  But even then, I wonder just how many square feet we’ll be looking at.  Chances are, we’ll still be sticking on the smaller side because when you live in a smaller home…

1. You buy less stuff.

When you don’t have a lot of room in your house, you kind of lose the desire to buy new things.  After all, where would you put the stuff?  It’s a constant battle over getting rid of something you already have so you can make room for something new.  So why not skip the department stores all together?  I know our no-new-clothes summer challenge has been the perfect lesson.  We buy less; we appreciate and use what we have.

2.  You save money.

The cost of the home is cheaper.  Utilities are cheaper.  Taxes, insurance, mortgage or rent, remodels…. the list just goes on in ways you’ll spend less.

3.  You work less.

If you can only spend 15 minutes cleaning your house every day, it makes a bigger impact in a small house.  They’re so much easier to keep clean.  Keeping up with maintenance is less work (and less expensive).  In the end, you have more time to play and do the things you like.

4.  Stuff stops owning you.

Sometimes we see the most beautiful airplanes.  They’re mortgaged.  So are the cars those people drive and the homes where they live.  I think that’s perfectly fine until you spend most of your day just working to pay those bills.  A small home and simpler lifestyle makes us feel like we’re not chained to work just to pay for what we want.  We learn to want less.

5.  You help the environment.

Small homes need fewer resources to build than a home of the exact quality that’s twice as big, obviously.  They also use less energy to heat and fewer utilities since odds are our family is all in one room.  Fewer resources = greener living.

Images are of our tiny kitchen that we remodeled last year with fresh basil and tomatoes from the grocery store.  I find it strange (but oh so delicious!) to buy fresh herbs in small pots instead of in small, cut bundles wrapped with rubber bands.  You can guess basil is going into everything!

What do you love about your space that you wouldn’t have if it were bigger?  Please chime in!