Wow Home Idea

Getty Washing the car (and then tidying the interior!) is one of the bigger chores on your weekend to-do list. And if you're taking the time scrub down your vehicle, don't you want to make sure you're doing it correctly? Thought so. Which is why we asked our experts from the Good Housekeeping Institute about the common mistakes people make when they clean their ride: 1. You wash it in the hot sun.   Just like sunlight helps you dry off your body after a dip into the ocean, it can also dry your just-rinsed car — but too quickly. This results in water spots, says Carolyn Forte, director of the Cleaning Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute. Instead, try to do this chore in the morning or evening when the sun is less direct.  2. You use dish liquid on the exterior. Stop! Whatever you do, just stop. While dish detergent is handy in the kitchen, you shouldn't use it on your car. It's too harsh on the car's paint, and might result in scratches that look like spid

We'll never get tired of dreaming about life in rural England. What could be more charming? Across the ocean, the ivy seems to climb higher, the rose bushes seem bushier, and calm, cloudy mornings seem that much more relaxing. Case in point: These three cottages for sale, all located in small English villages bordering the countryside.  NORTON, SUFFOLK Jackson-Stops & Staff The quaint village of Norton has just 800 residents, but what it lacks in population it makes up for in beauty. Exhibit A: Climbing ivy, along with cherry and mulberry trees make this home utterly irresistible. Built of local "Woolpit White" brick, it's believed to date back to the 16th or 17th century.  Asking Price: £595,000  For more information, visit Jackson-Stops & Staff. B ATH, SOMERSET Knight Frank Awaken to the sound of church bells in this idyllic stone cottage, which seems to have been plucked straight from the set of Downton Abbey . This section of Bath is a designated cons

When gifting a bouquet, the hue you choose makes all the difference. Getty A Rose Isn't Just a Rose You've probably heard that "a rose is a rose is a rose," but while perfectly poetic, the Victorians wholeheartedly disagree. Flower meaning dictionaries were quite popular during the Victorian era — for instance, pink carnations meant "I will never forget you," and chrysanthemums meant "truth." Though people didn't necessarily send secret messages through buds and bouquets, the meanings were still important to people during that period. We think this bit of historical trivia is pretty charming, so we explored this recently published flower dictionary to discover the meanings behind different kinds of roses — so you know exactly what you're getting into if you gift flowers. Getty Red Roses If you planned on delivering this classic choice to your significant other, you're in luck. It means "love." Getty White Roses But maybe

Getty Raise your hand if you consider HomeGoods your "happy place." (Us too.) But how much do you really know about this household retail giant? Probably not a lot, especially since the company is super tight-lipped about their vendors and strategy. But here's everything you need to know about one of our favorite off-price home stores: 1. The company dates back to 1919. It was founded by two brothers, Max and Morris Feldberg, and was called the New England Trading Company. However, later generations opened a series of new stores (like Zayre in the 1950s, T.J. Maxx in 1977, and finally HomeGoods as an off-price model in 1992) and the powerhouse company now just goes by "TJX." 2. And it's based in Framingham, Massachusetts. Yes, the same city that's best known for the Framingham Heart Study, which is a research project that has existed for decades and tracks the health of the city's residents. 3. The first store sold something very surprising — wom

Those throw pillows aren't as innocent as they look. Getty You have too many throw pillows. A few extra pillows can make your couch or bed feel infinitely more cozy, but overdoing it could leave you feeling stressed. Not only do they limit the space you have to actually sit, extra throw pillows are destined to end up strewn on the floor. And as a UCLA study found, cluttered homes = increased levels of stress hormones. Getty You're still using mismatched dinnerware. Almost everyone amasses a collection of random dishes and glassware throughout the years, but unless they're well-organized, they may just make setting the table more stressful. Do yourself a favor and take stock of what you have (especially before the holidays roll around). Anything that doesn't have a match, should be set aside for Goodwill. Getty You paint rooms in loud colors. While you may be drawn to bright, eye-catching hues like yellow and red, they can actually end up making you feel stressed. In

Courtesy Bored Panda One day, several years ago, New Zealander Brian Cox walked into his backyard and felt something was missing. Inspired by traveling abroad and all the beautiful churches he'd seen, he decided to build one of his own. But instead of conventional materials, Cox chose to use trees – living trees. And the results are nothing short of breathtaking. Before bringing in the greenery, Cox started by creating a metal frame for support. Since he owns a gardening company called Treelocations, he was able to transplant already grown trees for the project, which sped it up significantly. Four years later, he has a three-acre backyard church and surrounding garden, which, if you're in the area for any reason, are open for public tours or to rent as an event space. But in the meantime, you can admire from afar: Courtesy of Barry Cox/Tree Church Courtesy of Barry Cox/Tree Church Courtesy of Barry Cox/Tree Church Courtesy of Barry Cox/Tree Church Courtesy of Barry Cox/Tr

Getty Everyone knows when you're in a rush, you shouldn't go to Target. It's stocked with so many cute accessories, clothes, and home goods that you could get distracted for hours — or worse, end up spending $$$ when you only needed a $ item. But even if you know the aisles of your city's location like the back of your hand, we doubt you know much more about the super store — until now: 1. It started with a church fire back in 1895. The company's founder George Draper Dayton began hunting for the perfect property on which to build his department store in Minneapolis in the early 1890s. But it wasn't until after a fire burned down the Westminster Presbyterian Church in 1895 that he found his unicorn lot, which he snatched up for $$$,000. His six-story building was completed in 1901. 2. Some might describe the founder as a take-no-prisoners businessman. Since Dayton needed an anchor tenant for his new property, he convinced a struggling store (named Goodfellow

You probably remember your mom being a little more freewheeling about child safety than today's young parents are. Perhaps you roamed aimlessly around the neighborhood until dinner, or rode in a not-so-secure carseat (or, if you were really lucky, a "travel platform"). But new parents from a generation or two ago had nothing on the daring London moms of the 1930s: They literally hung their babies out the window. Dangling "baby cages" came into vogue after they were invented in 1922, but Gothamist reports that their origin really began with the 1884 book The Care and Feeding of Children , by Dr. Luther Emmett. In his book, Emmett carefully describes how babies need to be "aired" (you know, like a musty rug) to "renew and purify the blood." But whatever was a doting, apartment-living mom to do? Responding to a lack of homes with outdoor space, some London communities began outfitting windows with infant-sized cages for babies to hang out i

Getty This place looks like a castle Maleficent would've called home, but it's actually a Christian church. Norway's Borgund Stave Church is more than 800 years old, and it's likely one of the best-preserved examples of "exstant stave" architecture — a church building style during Europe's Medieval period. Planning for the massive community structure began in 1180 A.D., with construction taking place sometime between 1180 and 1250 A.D. Locals pitched in to help build the house of worship, sliding massive posts (or "staves") into a ground frame and pulling them upright to form the basis for the structure's walls. They carved five crosses in the altar, and five in the walls. Following a "basilica" plan, the church has narrow side aisles. Back when it was still used for services, people would file in and stand to the north or south of the aisle. Benches were saved for the elderly and disabled. Flickr/zoetnet Wikimedia Commons/Zair

SFARMLS If you found yourself rounding the corner of Ord and 17th in San Francisco in 2012, you might not have noticed this unique art deco home at all. It was, well, gray. And such a limp shade of gray that the place could blend into the sky on a foggy day. But today — well, today's a much brighter story. Three years ago, the home got a new owner who painted the exterior a shocking purple hue (complete with turquoise and magenta accents). Basically, you c annot miss it — even in a city with homes known for colorful curb appeal: SFARMLS According to Curbed, the home was once under consideration to be a historic resource for the city, back when it was painted yellow (there's just something about this place and paint, we guess). The surveyors deemed it "unfortunate" then — and we're not sure vibrant violet was the alternative they were looking for. The home's interior also underwent many changes since 2012, and the owners made some unique (though decidedly l