I’m all about scrumptiousness, me. While I usually regale you with half a dozen puttery treats when the mood takes me, I know that finding time to breathe when the kids are under your feet in the Summer is a task and a half , and so today I wanted to offer 50 Brocantehome style quick fixes for freshening up a house suffering from the Summertime Blues.
Teeny, tiny things you can do when afternoons seem both endless and limited by the demands of your little people, not altogether life-changing but enough to make you feel you are still dedicated to the art of making your world as lovely as can be.
Are you ready to make life feel scrumptious again? Let’s go…
1. Open every window and door in the entire house for at least an hour to blow away the cobwebs. 2. If you aren’t going on holiday, amass a small collection of Vintage postcards and spend a tranquil afternoon sending the shortest, sweetest missives form home. 3. Read Swallows and Amazons out loud to the kids. 4. Add six drops of lemon oil to a cup full of olive oil and use it to scrub wooden chopping boards. 5. Add an olive oil pourer to a vintage glass bottle and use it to hold ironing water in the laundry room. 6. String white fairy-lights everywhere to bring memories of warm evenings on the Mediterranean flooding back. 7. Go hang fresh, new tea-towels out right now. 8. A pot of basil in the kitchen will instantly scent the air. 9. Grab a basket and chuck every last bit of clutter you can find into it. Instant tidy house! 10. Fill the prettiest bowl you can find with zesty limes ready for impromptu fruit juice cocktails. 11. Save orange peel and bake it in the oven for fifteen minutes to rid the oven of anything stinky and make the house smell sweet. 12. Strip back the beds and spin and flip the mattresses. 13. Throw listless towels into the tumble dryer to fluff them up. 14. Use spray beeswax to polish your furniture and add the old fashioned scent of home in an instant. (Look out for WoodSilk as it doesn’t contain silicones known to attract dust). 15. Change the images in at least half the photo-frames around the house. Ring the changes! 16. Burn rosemary oil in a burner for an instant pick me up for the living room. 17. Pop the entire families toothbrushes and mugs into an empty dishwasher and run on a quick, hot programme without soap to sanitize them. 18. Encourage the kids to have a pillow fight, then call time and re-make the beds, et voila! Puffed up pillows! 19. Add three drops of aromatherapy oil to dish soap and shake for a fragrant treat at the sink. 20. Wrap long match boxes in pretty vintage paper and leave in every loo in the house. It’s a very traditional, rather basic method of banishing smells but lighting a match is both quick and effective. 21. Bury banana peel in the soil below each rosebush so the potassium they contain will feed your glorious rose garden. 22. Have an indulgent half hour helping yourself to anything lingering in your Comfort Drawer. 23. Loop rolls of vintage lace bunting style across windows. 24. Re-purpose a gingham topped jam pot as a portable sugar bowl. Perfect for a casual afternoon tea in the garden. 25. Similarly decant milk into an old-fashioned lemonade bottle at the breakfast table. 26. Buy new oilcloth and perk up the kitchen table in an instant. 27. Leave a book full of curious facts in the loo. 28. Add a vintage floral corsage to a tea-towel and leave it hanging purely for decoration in the kitchen. 29. Stitch tiny pearl buttons at intervals along a length of vintage lace and wrap around a plain or flower sprigged lamp-shade. 30. Leave a stack of scrumptiously inspirational interiors books sitting on the coffee table. 31. Replace every single bar of slimy soap in the house with a fresh new one. 32. Hang a pretty floral shopper over the banister and use it as a catch-all for everything that needs to come upstairs and downstairs again.. 33. Make a layered jelly in a vintage mould. 34. Soak tea-stained cups in a solution of baking soda and warm water overnight. 35. Take houseplants outside and give them a holiday on the garden table on warm days. 36. Pop feather filled quilts into the tumble dryer for ten minutes with a few tennis balls to re-distribute the feathers. 37. Starch cotton pillowcases and notice how scrumptiously fresh they feel on Summer nights. 38. Use the prettiest, twinkliest Kirby grip hair pin you can find as a bookmark. 39. Patchwork a series of vintage tray cloths together to make a garden table cloth. 40. Capture children’s a4 artwork in a decorated three ring binder, so the more prolific artist’s work doesn’t take over your life. Have one for each child. 41. Line fridge door shelves with kitchen paper so even the shortest of drips are soaked right up. 42. Swap morning jam for Summery lavender honey or lemon curd. 43. Thrill the kids by mixing up milkshake in a cocktail shaker with ice. 44. Get into the habit of grating odd ends of soap into a Kilner jar to use at a later date for all-purpose household liquid soap. 45. Pin a lace shawl or tablecloth over the back door frame on warm days to discourage naughty flies by making their entrance into your home beautifully difficult. 46. Bake olive bread and serve it warm with Normandy butter and grape juice for breakfast. 47. Punch holes into the top of a vintage postcard, thread it on to pretty ribbon and swing it from a cupboard door handle 48. Cover a collection of battered recipe books in co-ordinating wipeable vinyl wallpaper: you only need scraps so sample pieces from the DIY store will be plenty. 49. Treat yourself to a new Welcome mat. 50. Top piles of white towels with the prettiest white lace doilies in the bathroom for an extra layer of vintage loveliness.
Create your own Brocante Life Book, plan Christmas, set up routines and rituals or live life the BrocanteHome way with my guided workbooks and planners.
Brrrrrrr. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, my heating isn’t working!! It’s either on or its off and there is no in-between, so having it set to come on in the morning isn’t a possibility and keeping it on…
First appearing in my 2019 Playbook, this little list of to-do’s is just right for adding a little joy to everything from candlelit breakfasts to leaf-hopping and stolen afternoons watching old movies… 1 Settle in for a cosy evening in watching The…
Tis Puttery Treat time ladies! Try to squeeze in as many of the little lovelies as you can before the kids break up and invade your peace… * Put your abundance of garden mint to good use by chopping it finely into…
{"id":null,"mode":"form","open_style":"in_place","currency_code":"USD","currency_symbol":"$","currency_type":"decimal","blank_flag_url":"https:\/\/brocantehome.net\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/flags\/blank.gif","flag_sprite_url":"https:\/\/brocantehome.net\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/flags\/flags.png","default_amount":300,"top_media_type":"featured_image","featured_image_url":"http:\/\/brocantehome.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/tipjar-2.png","featured_embed":"","header_media":null,"file_download_attachment_data":null,"recurring_options_enabled":true,"recurring_options":{"never":{"selected":true,"after_output":"One time only"},"weekly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every week"},"monthly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every month"},"yearly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every year"}},"strings":{"current_user_email":"","current_user_name":"","link_text":"Leave a tip","complete_payment_button_error_text":"Check info and try again","payment_verb":"Pay","payment_request_label":"BrocanteHome","form_has_an_error":"Please check and fix the errors above","general_server_error":"Something isn't working right at the moment. Please try again.","form_title":"BrocanteHome","form_subtitle":"Help Me to Keep BrocanteHome Online","currency_search_text":"Country or Currency here","other_payment_option":"Other payment option","manage_payments_button_text":"Manage your payments","thank_you_message":"Thank you so much: helping me keep Brocantehome online really means the world to me.","payment_confirmation_title":"BrocanteHome","receipt_title":"Your Receipt","print_receipt":"Print Receipt","email_receipt":"Email Receipt","email_receipt_sending":"Sending receipt...","email_receipt_success":"Email receipt successfully sent","email_receipt_failed":"Email receipt failed to send. Please try again.","receipt_payee":"Paid to","receipt_statement_descriptor":"This will show up on your statement as","receipt_date":"Date","receipt_transaction_id":"Transaction ID","receipt_transaction_amount":"Amount","refund_payer":"Refund from","login":"Log in to manage your payments","manage_payments":"Manage Payments","transactions_title":"Your Transactions","transaction_title":"Transaction Receipt","transaction_period":"Plan Period","arrangements_title":"Your Plans","arrangement_title":"Manage Plan","arrangement_details":"Plan Details","arrangement_id_title":"Plan ID","arrangement_payment_method_title":"Payment Method","arrangement_amount_title":"Plan Amount","arrangement_renewal_title":"Next renewal date","arrangement_action_cancel":"Cancel Plan","arrangement_action_cant_cancel":"Cancelling is currently not available.","arrangement_action_cancel_double":"Are you sure you'd like to cancel?","arrangement_cancelling":"Cancelling Plan...","arrangement_cancelled":"Plan Cancelled","arrangement_failed_to_cancel":"Failed to cancel plan","back_to_plans":"\u2190 Back to Plans","update_payment_method_verb":"Update","sca_auth_description":"Your have a pending renewal payment which requires authorization.","sca_auth_verb":"Authorize renewal payment","sca_authing_verb":"Authorizing payment","sca_authed_verb":"Payment successfully authorized!","sca_auth_failed":"Unable to authorize! Please try again.","login_button_text":"Log in","login_form_has_an_error":"Please check and fix the errors above","uppercase_search":"Search","lowercase_search":"search","uppercase_page":"Page","lowercase_page":"page","uppercase_items":"Items","lowercase_items":"items","uppercase_per":"Per","lowercase_per":"per","uppercase_of":"Of","lowercase_of":"of","back":"Back to plans","zip_code_placeholder":"Zip\/Postal Code","download_file_button_text":"Download File","input_field_instructions":{"tip_amount":{"placeholder_text":"How much would you like to tip?","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"How much would you like to tip? Choose any currency."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How much would you like to tip? Choose any currency."},"invalid_curency":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please choose a valid currency."}},"recurring":{"placeholder_text":"Recurring","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"How often would you like to give this?"},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"How often would you like to give this?"},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How often would you like to give this?"}},"name":{"placeholder_text":"Name on Credit Card","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter the name on your card."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter the name on your card."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please enter the name on your card."}},"privacy_policy":{"terms_title":"Terms and conditions","terms_body":null,"terms_show_text":"View Terms","terms_hide_text":"Hide Terms","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"I agree to the terms."},"unchecked":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please agree to the terms."},"checked":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"I agree to the terms."}},"email":{"placeholder_text":"Your email address","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"not_an_email_address":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Make sure you have entered a valid email address"}},"note_with_tip":{"placeholder_text":"Your note here...","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"empty":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"not_empty_initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"saving":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Saving note..."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Note successfully saved!"},"error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Unable to save note note at this time. Please try again."}},"email_for_login_code":{"placeholder_text":"Your email address","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."}},"login_code":{"initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."}},"stripe_all_in_one":{"initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"success":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"invalid_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is not a valid credit card number."},"invalid_expiry_month":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration month is invalid."},"invalid_expiry_year":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration year is invalid."},"invalid_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is invalid."},"incorrect_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is incorrect."},"incomplete_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is incomplete."},"incomplete_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is incomplete."},"incomplete_expiry":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration date is incomplete."},"incomplete_zip":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's zip code is incomplete."},"expired_card":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card has expired."},"incorrect_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is incorrect."},"incorrect_zip":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's zip code failed validation."},"invalid_expiry_year_past":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration year is in the past"},"card_declined":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card was declined."},"missing":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"There is no card on a customer that is being charged."},"processing_error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"An error occurred while processing the card."},"invalid_request_error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Unable to process this payment, please try again or use alternative method."},"invalid_sofort_country":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The billing country is not accepted by SOFORT. Please try another country."}}}},"fetched_oembed_html":false}