Harold's Renovation Blog: #92: The Household Staples We Never Buy

Do you reject certain “household staples?” We do! And it turns out a lot of other people do too – to the point that experts are saying they might someday disappear. So this week we’re breaking down how and why the typical home (and its contents) might be changing, along with revealing what modern comforts we’ve deemed unnecessary in our house (one of them is weird, I’m warning you). We’re also sharing how we found the best spring break home we’ve ever rented, and how we navigated the stresses of flying with children, car seats, a dog, his crate – essentially ALL THE THINGS. Oh, and it turns out we’re storing lots of stuff in our garage that we probably shouldn’t be.

You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Spotify – or listen to it below! Then use this page to check out any links, notes, or photos we referenced. Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you might have to click through to the post to see the player.

What’s New

Here’s the HomeAway listing for the Spring Break rental we got in Pompano Beach, Florida (just north of Fort Lauderdale). It’s not a 5-minute walk to the beach like the listing claims, but we still HIGHLY recommend it (we drove and it was always easy & cheap to park).
We’re planning to put a post together for everyone who has been asking for more info, but here’s a link to Cap’s Place, the restaurant that Sherry mentioned with all of the celebrity diners in its 100-year-history. Some of the famous folks who have eaten there include Joe DiMaggio, George Harrison, Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Al Capone, Ernest Hemingway, Mariah Carey, and Paris Hilton (quite the range, eh?). Our favorite part of the entire experience was the boat that you have to ride to get to the restaurant:

You can also check out Episode #45 to hear about our Spring Break last year in Cape Canaveral, FL. This is the Airbnb that we rented there, which we also liked – but it was a shared property with two other rental units (so it wasn’t quite as private).
We didn’t get a shot of ourselves and all of the stuff that we hauled through the airport (our hands were pretty full!) but here’s Sherry on the plane sporting what she calls her “signature crazy hair and that nervous-mom travel face.” The point of this picture is really to point out one of our favorite travel companions: Burger, who’s in his carrier under the seat.

And I’ll leave a shout out to Jordan Ferney from Oh Happy Day here, for the boost of travel confidence she gave us the weekend before we left.

What’s Not

Here are some lists of things you should NOT store in your garage courtesy of HGTV and Reader’s Digest.
And here’s a link to the current model of cordless electric lawn mower that we have (and can safely store in our garage!)
Also, don’t forget to snag a fire extinguisher for your garage if you don’t already have one.

What Millennials Are “Killing”

upholstered bed / night stand / pink pillow / favorite sheets / more sources: here

Here’s the full list from Business Insider that has attempted to gather all of the items in one place.
There’s also an article from The Washington Post that takes a deeper dive into how paper towels are replacing paper napkins.
The impending death of the top sheet was also reported in USA Today and Buzzfeed (warning: that Buzzfeed link has some NSFW language in it because the author is apparently very anti-top sheet). And thanks to Chelsea at Two Twenty One for bringing this “controversial” topic to our attention.
You can also revisit Episode #48 where Becky (aka Clean Mama) gave the advice to ditch the top sheet on your kids’ beds to make it easier to make each morning. We have taken that advice since it’s easy to toss their quilts into the wash with the fitted sheet (no duvet stuffing/wrestling required!).
But now let’s see where you guys stand on some of these (note: if you’re viewing this post in a feed reader, you may have to click through to our blog post to see them):

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

We’re Digging

Here are the exact MarvelBeads that a friend gave us as a Christmas gift. We put off making them forever, fearing they’d be messy – but now we love them… and have since bought more for another kid’s birthday! We’re still only halfway through our original bag because you don’t need very many to make a huge batch (remember, they grow to be about the size of a marble, so the ones above are about half-grown).
And if anyone has tried the Orbeez Foot Spa I’m dying to know if it’s as gross as it sounds.
If you’re looking for some good (but dark) reading, here are the three books I flew through on our travels: The Couple Next Door, Final Girls, and The Girl Before. The one Sherry also read with the focus on design/minimalism as well as sinister murder-y stuff is The Girl Before – and she’s currently halfway through Final Girls and is loving it too.

If you’re looking for something we’ve dug in a past episode, but don’t remember which show notes to click into, here’s a master list of everything we’ve been digging from all of our past episodes.

And lastly, a big thank you to HANDy Paint Products for sponsoring this episode. If you’ve got a painting project coming up, we personally love the HANDy Paint Cup (with the little brush magnet) and the HANDy Paint Tray, which makes moving your roller around the room so much easier. You can find all of the bright red HANDy Paint Products wherever you buy paint.