Before I say anything else, let me just say that I hate to vacuum. As in unequivocally, without a doubt, hate with a capital H. Unfortunately, it’s a necessarily evil because my apartment has carpet in every room except the kitchen and bathrooms. The result of my vacuum hate is that I’ll procrastinate. So though we take our shoes off at the front door 90% of the time to minimize dust, dirt and germs being trekked through the house, carpet is carpet, and there’s no avoiding some accumulation.
Appliances
OK…so the photo above isn’t really our laundry room, and definitely not our basement. But it accurately sums up the way I feel at the moment.
It’s been a long time since my husband and I have had to make a major purchase for our home. With all the moves we’ve made in the past few years, we’ve done our fair share of washing clothes at the laundry. As much as I hate doing laundry at home, there’s little in this life I hate more than having to do it all at once in a hot, often crowded public laundromat. So when our washer inexplicably quit last week, I almost shed some tears.
I’ve always coveted a modern, stainless steel fireplace. Not that traditional brick and stacked stone fireplaces aren’t beautiful. They’re just not me. So if and when I ever decide to get one, I’m happy to hear from the team over at Alternative Consumer that EcoSmart fireplaces now qualify for federal tax credits for energy efficiency. Any consumer in the U.S. who purchases (or has purchased) an EcoSmart fireplace between 1/1/2009 and 12/31/2010 can receive a tax credit of 30% of the purchase price up to $1500. Sounds like a win/win situation to me! You get a beautiful, energy-efficient, clean-burning fireplace, and you get a decent chunk of your money back. Learn more about the tax credit here, and be sure to remember that when you file your income taxes.
I have a secret. I hate vacuuming. It is easily one of my least-favorite chores, second only to cleaning the bathroom. I do both, of course, because they need to be done, but I rarely go about it happily. I hate lugging a heavy vacuum around from room to room hoping that the cord will be long enough to reach everywhere without having to switch outlets. It’s just not a fun chore for me. So when Dirt Devil contacted me about their Accucharge cordless stick vac that is also ENERGY STAR approved, I jumped at the chance. After all, a well-decorated home is a clean, well-kept home.
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I’m Jennae Petersen, and I’m a lot of things. A mother, a graphic artist, a connosieur of beautiful interiors and a purveyor of all things design. Green Your Decor was borne of frustration in my attempts to find eco-friendly housewares that were also beautiful, and inspiration to do something to reduce my own carbon footprint and help others do the same in a beautiful way.
