Tag: home

Countertops might be the most important element of kitchen design. Hear us out: Not only do you interact with them every day, but they’re one of the first things a person notices when they walk into the space, making them a key focal point. “The countertop is also one of the few continuous materials in the kitchen, so it goes a long way toward tying the room together,” says Carrie Schulz, head of design at Block Renovation, a service that streamlines the planning, designing and building process for homeowners.

At the Good Housekeeping Institute, we’ve been testing countertops for a long, long time. In fact, way back in 1908, based on experiences in the Experiment Station (a precursor to the Good Housekeeping Institute), our early experts persuaded a builder to install its kitchen counters at a comfortable height of 36 inches, establishing a standard still used today.

For this report, our experts pulled together a list of the six best countertops available now, based on our latest tests, as well as insights from designers, installers and other pros in the field. There are many other options to choose from — glass, concrete and stainless steel, to name a few — but the process is daunting enough without these niche materials causing more second guessing.

Besides being integral to kitchen design, countertops aren’t the kinds of things you swap out frequently. Choose wisely, and they’ll serve you well for as long as you live in in your home.

Quartz

Light, bright quartz countertops can make a kitchen feel more expansive.

A favorite of our experts, this engineered stone is named after its principal ingredient, quartz, which is held together by polymer resins. The result is an exceptionally durable, low-maintenance material that’s available in a

If you’re well-seasoned or new to the world of crafts and DIYs, the GH Stitch Club is the perfect place to learn how to crochet, knit, macramé and more. There are helpful how-to videos as well as the latest tips and tricks to keep your family engaged and creative. As the months get colder, you may be looking to pick up a new hobby or project, making our simple guide on how to crochet for beginners great to keep on hand whenever you have free time to spare.

In this tutorial, we’re showing you the basics and everything you need to crochet your very own bobble cowl — a crochet cowl pattern typically made with lightweight yarn for any novice. This crochet project is ideal for a novice, as it can be made in a couple of hours. It’s perfect for winter and even holiday presents (check out our holiday gift ideas for cheap, thoughtful and personalized options).

So follow our simple steps for instructions on how to make a bobble cowl. You can also watch our video above for step-by-step visuals.

How to Crochet a Bobble Cowl

What You’ll Need

Tips to Remember Before Starting:

• When you’re grabbing your yarn and looking for the end to start, it’s always going to be on the left side of the logo.
• Check the back of the label for the knitting needle or crochet hook you choose to use.

Step 1: Begin with a slip knot.

For every crochet project, you want to start with a slip knot. Cross the yarn over itself and then pull the tail through to make the loop. Slip your crochet hook through the slip knot.

Step 2: Crochet your foundation chain.

Next is your foundation chain. Wrap your yarn from behind and over the hook. Pull

Last week we vacationed in the Yucatán Peninsula region of Mexico with our two kids (ages 8 and 12) and yes, even our dog Penny came! This was our second time traveling internationally as a family, so we definitely don’t qualify as experienced world travelers or aspiring travel bloggers. But just like the last time we went abroad, we wanted to share the details for anyone who is considering something similar – especially if it’s your first time going to Mexico. So here are a bunch of answers to the most common questions we got. We’ll also cover where we went, what we ate, and how we navigated the logistics of bringing a pet with us.

Oh, and as usual, no part of this trip was sponsored. We paid for all of the flights, lodging, food, and activities ourselves (thanks in part to a lot of saved credit card points, which is our favorite way to book big trips).

Why Mexico?

We had hoped our family trip to Costa Rica in January 2020 would be the start of regular travels to other countries with our kids. We had really enjoyed getting out of our comfort zones, seeing how others live, having new experiences with our children, and taking in the beautiful sights along the way. Well, then Covid happened.

This summer (June of 2022) we finally felt ready to venture off on another international trip, and Mexico felt like a fun and relatively easy/close destination for our first big trip in over two years (we hadn’t been on a plane since Feb of 2020 when we bought our house!). Two sets of our friends had also recently been to Mexico without their kids – so that definitely made Mexico top of mind.

Mexico also boasts a lot of

It’s time once again to throw open every cabinet, drawer, and door to show you how we organized our kitchen, which we slowly renovated over the last two years (more on that slow but steady reno here). This post should be an especially fun one because you’ll see just how much we’ve improved upon the original organization of this kitchen, which we shared in this post almost two years ago. And, as usual, we made a video walk-through of the whole thing too, which also explains a few future plans involving two outdoor cabinets that we plan to add to the nearby kitchen porch. So yeah… lots to cover.

We’ll start with the video, because it’s truly the most comprehensive way to understand exactly what goes where in our new kitchen. Sherry also snuck some Penny footage in there for you, because she knows what you really come here to see. Plus you’ll get a sneak peek into our utility closet, which looks completely different than it used to when it just housed our HVAC system & a big water heater!

Note: You can also view this video on YouTube.

The last time we shared how we organized this small kitchen, it was September of 2020 and we’d only lived here for 3 months. We were excited about how functional we had made it in such a short period of time by working with what we had – and mostly were thrilled that we’d successfully downsized our belongings from our last kitchen and it actually worked for us. At this point in the pandemic we were cooking virtually every single meal at home and had two kids home full time doing at-home-learning… virtually every single meal we all ate was stored and prepared and consumed