Spider plants have arched ribbon-like leaves that have variations of green or white and green stripes and they are especially pretty to use in a hanging basket display. They are one of the more popular varieties of house plants and they can take quite a bit of neglect so they are good for beginners to practice their green thumbs on as well.

Related: Learn to Care for Pilea Plants, Calathea, Fiddle Leaf Figs, Golden Pothos, Snake Plants, Rubber Trees, Christmas Cactus, and String of Pearls Plants.

Why are they called Spider plants? Spider plants are native to the coast of South Africa and during the warmer summer months they can produce small white flowers at the end of a long stem (called a “pup”) that resemble small spiders—these little spiders can be replanted to produce another spider plant!

Types of Spider Plants:

• Chlorophytum comosum ‘Variegatum’: This kind has cream or white margins of the leaf with a dark green stripe down the middle and the long stems that grow from it are green.
• Chlorophytum comosum ‘Vittatum’: This variety’s leaves have a white stripe down the center flanked by green margins and the long stems are white.
• Chlorophytum comosum ‘Bonnie’: This spider plant grows more compact and has more curly leaves with green outsides and a cream center stripe. Rather than white flowers, its flowers are yellow.

How Often Should I Water Spider Plants?

You’ll want the soil to start to dry out between waterings as spider plants like moist but not soggy soil. Too much water can cause root rot and kill the plant. Water your plant thoroughly and then check it a few days later by sticking a finger down into the soil to check the dampness level. Once the dirt feels only slightly moist it’s time to water again.

Spider plants can be more sensitive to fluoride and chlorine in tap water, so if you really want to pamper your plant you can use rainwater or distilled water instead.

Since spider plants are pretty good at retaining water they can handle a few forgotten watering sessions better than other plants and even go weeks at a time between waterings.

Keep an eye on the growth of your plant as you’ll want to move it to a bigger pot once the roots have outgrown the container.

How Much Sunlight Do Spider Plants Need?

Spider plants can live indoors in low to bright indirect light. The stripes of the plant actually change and look more prominent when exposed to more sun, but you don’t want to place the plant in direct sunlight as that will burn and damage the leaves.

Outdoors spider plants prefer light shade but it is possible for them to do well in medium to heavy shade but they will grow slower with less light.

Should I Fertilize My Spider Plant?

You can use an all-purpose fertilizer on your spider plant during the spring and summer growing seasons. Just add some once or twice a month but be careful not to overdo it as that can hurt the plant.

Follow the directions on the label for guidance on how much to use and you can even start with half-strength to see how your plant does.

Temperature and Humidity for Spider Plants

Since spider plants come from a warmer more humid climate, they do best at temperatures over 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep them away from air conditioning vents and drafts if growing them inside.

Pruning Spider Plants

You can remove any brown tips as they appear by using sharp scissors or pruning shears to cut them off, but spider plants generally don’t need a lot of pruning.

Repotting Spider Plants

If you see your roots coming out of the drainage holes at the bottom of your container or up through the top of the soil, that means the root ball is getting too big and you’ll want to repot your plant.

Use a container that is 1/3 bigger than your root ball (ideally with drainage holes) and you can crumple up the root ball with your hands to break up any large knots of roots to encourage them to spread out in the new pot.

Propagating Spider Plants

The tiny spiderettes that grow at the end of a long stem not only give this plant its name, but also can be replanted to grow yourself some more spider plants!

You can wait until the spiderette has started to grow roots before cutting it off and planting in its own soil pot, but the best method is to allow the plant to still be attached to the mother plant while you start to propagate it.

Simply place a pot of soil near the mother plant and let the spiderette sit on the soil until it starts to develop roots and grow into the pot. You can use a wire bent into a “U” (or a paperclip unfolded) to push into the soil around the stem to keep it in place on the dirt.

Only mature plants with enough stored energy will produce spiderettes so not all plants are capable of making them.

Related: How to Propagate Plants

Diagnosing Common Problems

• Dry crispy tips: Could be a sign of underwatering, try and water more frequently or mist the plant weekly to keep the humidity up.
• Dark brown tips: Could be a sign of overwatering, let the soil dry more between watering. Can also be from fluoridated tap water so you can try distilled or rain water for a while to see if that helps.
• Pests: Spider plants are usually more pest-resistant but if you are getting aphids, whiteflies, and spider mites you can rinse the plant with water or use neem oil for bigger infestations.

FAQ

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Show Notes:

Here’s a picture of Emma’s outfit for the Taylor Swift concert:

Best Advice in Business:

Elsie – Think of your business as a table with four legs—what you are doing now is one of the legs, but you still need three other legs.

Emma – Don’t be afraid to fail, pivot, or abandon something to try something new. Ask questions even if they seem very basic or embarrassing.

Best Advice in Motherhood:

Elsie – Be very quick to apologize.

Emma – Be present and enjoy the moment.

Resources Emma mentioned: Babywise by Robert Bucknam, M.D. and Gary Ezzo and Taking Cara Babie

Best Advice for Life:

Elsie – Live your current day the way your elderly self would want you to live.

Emma – Find passions and pursue them. Grow, build, or maintain a positive and important support system in your life.

We mentioned Elemental by Andi Eaton Alleman

Listener Question from Kendall Pereira: Can you share what podcasts you listen to?

Elsie:

• I Will Teach You to Be Rich
• You’re Wrong About
• Elise Gets Crafty
• Your Woo-Woo Best Friend
• Young House Love Podcast

Emma:

• Planet Money
• The Daily
• If Books Could Kill
• Maintenance Phase
• Criminal
• My Favorite Murder
• Everything Belongs

Miss an Episode? Get Caught Up!

• Episode #192: Our Birthday Traditions
• Episode #191: Amazing Home Decor Items Under $50
• Episode #190: The Parent Trap – Comfort Rewatch

Episode 193 Transcript:

Elsie: You’re listening to the A Beautiful Mess Podcast, your cozy comfort listen. This week we are deep diving into the best advice we’ve ever received regarding business, motherhood, and life in general. Plus, we’re answering listener questions about our favorite podcast. Okay, so Emma went to the Taylor Swift concert. She’s going to tell us how much it changed her life or whatever else. 

Emma: Yes. I went to the Kansas City July 7th show. I feel like every Swifty like knows little things that happen at every single show. The Taylor Lautner one.

Elsie: Yeah. That’s how I see it. 

Emma: That was the one I was at. Taylor Lautner did a backflip on stage. So, I should admit up front because I feel like if I don’t then I’ll be stressed about it the entire time. But I don’t happen to know any Taylor Swift songs from the beginning to end. I thought I did, and I realized throughout the concert, I do not. I know the chorus of most of her hits, but I was very proud to be in the club for the night, and hopefully for life now. Hopefully the Swifties have accepted me. But essentially my friends were like, my book club friends, they were like, we’re going to Taylor Swift this summer. Who wants to go? This was months and months ago when they were buying the tickets on Ticketmaster. And I was like, oh, if there’s enough tickets, I want to go. Like we all just kind of threw in our names in the slack that we have and there were enough tickets so I got one. And as it was leading up to it, I was sort of realizing from social media and also my friends group texts, how this was such a big deal. And to me, I was like, oh, I’m just going to go to a concert with my friends this summer. How fun. Like I didn’t really think about it beyond that. And then when everyone started sharing what outfit they were going to wear, I was like, oh, adult Halloween in the summer. I’m so excited. So I mean, it was like, oh, I got to get a crazy outfit. So I’ll put a picture in the show notes, but I got this kind of disco ball looking outfit. It was kind of a space cowgirl vibe. I had white cowgirl boots and a white cowboy hat and yeah, I’m going to wear the dress for New Year’s Eve, I think every year because it seriously looks like a disco ball and it’s fun to dance in because it kind of swirls. So anyway, so I felt like I looked the part at least, but yeah, the concert was awesome. 

Elsie: Did you make friendship bracelets? 

Emma: Oh yes, we made lots of friendship bracelets. We had a bracelet making night with everyone who was going in my group of friends, and then everyone’s just been making them all summer. We were making them in the car on the way up to Kansas city. So yeah, we traded bracelets and that was probably one of my favorite things about the concert. I was telling you that there’s like 12 year old girls, there were 40 year old women, there was everything in between. And I’ve never been to a show where there’s that many different age groups. There were seriously like college girls sitting in the row in front of us who we were trading bracelets with and that was just fun and sweet. And everyone was so excited and it was just a really fun environment. It’s also definitely the biggest concert I’ve ever been to. I don’t even know if I’ve been to another stadium show, maybe, but I’ve never been to one this size. That was something new for me and really fun. Yeah, it was awesome. I did feel a little bit like a poser the whole time, but it was awesome. Had a lot of fun. My friends are the best and mostly proud of my outfit. 

Elsie: That sounds like a good review. Well, it looked like lots of fun.

Emma: It was very fun. And it really wasn’t even that hot. It was kind of outdoors. It was great.

Elsie: Magical. 

Emma: Magical. Good time. 

Elsie: Okay. So this episode is about the best advice we’ve ever received. I’m so excited. to do this because it’s kind of just like a little bit of everything and I love advice. I love it when people give me like, I always say the best book I want to read is something that someone told me was their favorite book of the year, that kind of thing. Like when people get really in your face passionate, that’s my favorite thing. 

Emma: You would have loved the Swiftie concert then. That’s all it was. 

Elsie: That’s funny. Yes. 

Emma: No, me too, though. I do feel like if anyone ever says this thing changed my life, then Elsie’s already buying it, whatever it is, or reading it or whatever it is. Big time. Yes. Okay. Well, we have three different areas we’re going to talk about business, motherhood, and then just life generally. And some of mine’s kind of specific and some of mine’s kind of like spread out. So I think it’ll be a little random, but one thing I wanted to say up top that’s really served me well in my life is I have always been pretty into reading or hearing other people’s stories. So like any chance I get to read an autobiography or a biography of someone who’s in a field that I’m interested in or living in a time that I’m interested in. I’ve always loved that. I also love the podcast, How I Built This, where you learn about how people started their businesses. I’m obsessed with it. I’ve listened to so many episodes of that while painting various rooms. So I don’t know if that’s really advice but just one thing I would say is if you feel like you don’t have enough good advice in your life, do that, read biographies, read autobiographies, listen to podcasts about how people started their business or got good at being a parent or had a great marriage or whatever it is that you’re wanting to learn about. Because I think hearing people’s specific stories, even if their life is very different from yours, something about that to me is always very meaningful. 

Elsie: Yeah, I know. I agree. I love that. I love a memoir any chance I get for sure. Okay, so what’s your best business advice that you’ve ever received?

Emma: I was thinking about it because I sometimes feel like business blends into money, but that’s more personal finance so what I landed on is I feel like the best advice I’ve been given over the years is to essentially don’t be afraid to fail, pivot, abandon something and try something new. And to ask questions, even questions that might seem really basic, like you’re embarrassed to ask. You feel like everyone else in the room knows the answer, except for you. And it’s a very like an ego death thing to be like, I’m just going to give up on this because it’s not working and I’m going to try something new or to be like, I’m going to go ahead and raise my hand and say, I have no idea the basics of this. Can you explain it to me? Like I’m a fourth grader. It’s my Michael Scott but sometimes you need to do that, especially in business.

Elsie: Yeah, no, I agree. Asking a question you don’t want to ask is such a good quality and admirable. And I think that nodding along and pretending like you know when you don’t know, people can usually tell. I don’t think that that’s an admirable quality. I think it’s cool when people are willing to say like, oh, I’ve never learned about that before at any age. That’s normal and acceptable. So I think that’s great. I like what you said about pivoting and stuff. One of the things I wrote down was there’s no shame in quitting. I think that that’s something that I didn’t understand when I was younger. I would have like a very specific goal or dream, a lot of times it was something that I saw someone else do and I wanted to do it too, but just like they did and have similar experience. Now I know that that is not such a good path to go down in life because when you’re looking for success in the same way someone else experienced it, you’re almost never going to find it. But if you’re willing to open your mind to all the different possibilities, maybe you’ll find something different. A lot of times even better or at least better suited for you But yeah, I think learning to quit and pivot are one of our strengths. I don’t remember where or why we learned it. We did learn at a young age that if something’s not working then we can just drop it Drop it and move on and kind of feel no shame for it. No feelings for it. I mean, sometimes I get sad, but for the most part, not really. Just freaking move on and don’t feel obligated to finish what you started every single time. I don’t think that that’s always a good move in business.

Emma: Yeah. And I think, we’re talking in such general terms, so everyone will know for themselves. There are times you can tell you’re like, I’m not done with this or this thing’s not done with me although I’m feeling like this isn’t going well, or it’s kind of floundering, I think I should keep pushing. There are times you can feel that. And then there’s other times where essentially I think it’s kind of like, well, I’ve told all my friends I’m going to do this thing so even though I kind of don’t want to do it anymore, I’m kind of realizing it’s not a good fit. I already told everyone, so I better just keep going. That’s not a good reason right there. So that, and then also kind of the whole like sunk cost fallacy, you know, that whole thing where it’s like, I’ll just keep throwing money at this cause I’ve already put 20,000 into this house so I can never move and I have to keep going. And it’s like, well maybe, but maybe you should cut your losses because before you might be 50,000 in and still know better. So it’s like, maybe you should have just moved on and accepted a loss or whatever. 

Elsie: Yeah. I trained my brain to be very good at that. I think the smallest example is like when you’re cleaning out your closet and you’re like, I don’t like this, but I never wore it or I wore it only a few times and it costs 50 dollars or whatever. It just bothers you. And you feel like what I need to do is wear it five more times or keep it for this many more years. But in reality, it’s probably just going to keep hanging there in the closet, taking up space. Wasting your time.

Emma: Bumming you out.

Elsie: Wasting your time because having a closet where you have to go through things that you wouldn’t wear, it is a waste of time. It’s like that in business too. I think sometimes we keep things hanging around because we feel like we’ve already invested in it or already put time or money, energy, whatever, into it.

Emma: Yeah. So you’re like, I have to keep going because I’ve already invested my time, my money, whatever. We’re kind of into Star Trek Next Generation right now. That’s our nighttime watch. I thought you’d be interested. So this episode we watched last night, I promise this relates, the folks on the Enterprise are battling this robot that’s trying to kill them. There’s no need to know the whole episode. What happens is every time they encounter it, they defeat it. They blow it up with their phasers or whatever. But each time it comes back, it’s a little bit smarter. And I think you should think about that when you’re like, oh, I failed. oh, I have to start over. It’s like, no, you’re just a robot. That’s didn’t work. Try again. And before you know it, you’re going to be undefeatable because you accepted all of the fails as just the process of getting better and better. Be the robot. 

Elsie: I love you so much right now. That is truly some like, I don’t know, sixth grade teacher that you’re giving out and I love it. 

Emma: Boldly go where no one has gone before. 

Elsie: Okay. I have one more business advice thing. So I know I have said this before many, many times in our podcasts, but it’s the one for me. It’s the one. And just in case there’s a few people here who are new, who haven’t listened to our podcast for 150 episodes or whatever. 193? What? Oh my god. How long have we been doing this? We’re getting close to 200. Wow. 

Emma: We gotta do something. 

Elsie: My guess was way off. So, we should have a party. Send us what kind of party you think we should have. Alright, so my friend Carter Bryant told me this advice when I was very, very broke. It was kind of in my first iteration of starting stores, and I had to Etsy. I was just trying to find a way to pay all my bills and have enough money to live. He told me that I needed to think of our business as a table with four legs. What you’re doing now could be one of the legs but you need to have three more. So through the years, we begin to build those and having our website makes money. We have our books that when we were writing them earned money, not as much now. 

Emma: Now we get those sweet six dollar checks in the mail. 

Elsie: We’ve had our app company and I could think of a couple more, but like, whatever we’ve made the four legs. 

Emma: The thing you’re listening to right now is one of our legs now. 

Elsie: Check, check, check. Okay. So yeah, having the four legs and they don’t all have to be big. They don’t all have to be like a main income. It could just be like four pieces of one pie. But the thing that’s beautiful about it is that if and when, I would say when, it’s time for you to pivot or one of them suddenly flops, that happens sometimes in life. We had it happen last year with our sponsor program. We’re doing so good for like 10 years and then all of a sudden we had no sponsors. And if we would have relied on that solely, 

Emma: it would have shut our doors a long time ago.

Elsie: It would have killed our business. But having those four legs, and I think of this as a good tip for personal finance too. Just four different, one could be your savings. One could be your income you earn every month. One could be your retirement account, things like that. That’s my advice that really saved me. It changed my life. And so I have to repeat it as much as possible just in case there’s a younger person who is like me out there, who is getting started and needs to build their four legs. 

Emma: I love it. Next up is best advice that we’ve gotten about motherhood or parenting in general. Oh, maybe you should go first this time. 

Elsie: I have a good one. So I think it was through Instagram when we were about to adopt our first daughter so about six years ago, I think I wrote like, what’s your best parenting advice you’ve ever received or what’s parenting advice you want me to hear or something like that. I can’t remember, but I just remember that my one friend, Tara, sent me the advice that was be very quick to apologize to your kids. I remember at the time not being a mom yet, and this is laughable to me now, but it is very sincere. I couldn’t imagine what I would need to apologize for. I couldn’t imagine a time when I would be making a mistake because I was just so, so ready to be a mom. And it was like the thing I wanted more than anything in the world. The way that you feel right before you become a parent. Now that I’ve been a mom for six years, I completely understand her advice and I can see how it’s for sure the best parenting advice I’ve ever received, because I think that every parent is going to make mistakes throughout your day, maybe every day. You’re going to make big and small mistakes and having the willingness and the awareness to apologize quickly and to be humble about it has made such a difference for me. And so I think that’s the best advice I’ve received. 

Emma: I love it. Also just letting your kid as they age see you be human and make mistakes and accept it and quickly say, sorry, I think is really powerful. Generally like being a human around your kid. I think it, because like I’ve heard parents say, I think our friend, Elise, she was like make sure to read in front of your kids when they get older, not as a baby necessarily, but make sure that they see you doing the things that you’re passionate about, things that you love. They see everything. They know what’s up. So make sure you read around them or whatever, like make sure that you and your partner, if you have a partner, you both do chores and you both take on things so that they know that that is normal and that is good. All the things of being a human. It’s actually terrifying to be a human in front of other people, though, too, at times. It means being flawed, and it means being not good enough in some areas. That is actually okay. And you want your kid to know that it’s okay if they’re not good enough, in air quotes, in some areas.

Elsie: My therapist always says that your kids don’t need a perfect mom, which means so much. It can be so hard sometimes. I think remembering that, like, it’s more important for them to see you behave the way you want to behave in the big picture than to try to be perfect every single day. Like no one’s, no one’s perfect. 

Emma: You should be decent, not perfect. Be a good person. Don’t be a perfect person. I love that. 

Elsie: What’s the best advice you’ve received? 

Emma: So I wrote down two things. One’s practical and one’s more big picture life thing, but lots of versions of essentially be present with your kids and enjoy the moment and a lot of versions of it goes fast or it feels long, but it goes by really fast and you’ll cherish the times and all those things. I live it, the more I’m like, oh yeah, all this cliche advice is totally true and a hundred percent accurate. And I feel it in my soul, even though it all seems so cliche and I love it. I actually think I’m not the best at living in the moment. I’m a very, like, forward. I’m very goal oriented. I’m always working on the next thing. I think that’s part of why it’s easier for me to fail. Like we were talking about in the business advice, because I’m kind of like, that’s the past. Who cares? I’m running forward to the future. Like, that’s what I’m like. So I do feel like being a mom, I’ve gotten better at this and I hope I continue to get better. Watching him play with his Legos and noticing what his little legs look like with his little diaper because that’ll be over in like a year, probably he’s already interested in the potty. Just like all these things. It’s like, oh, it’s going to go by anytime. I have to clean out his closet. He’s grown out of things. I’m like, oh, he’s not going to wear this one ever again. It’s too small. And just like have all these moments of like, oh, you already grew out of that. I’m like so much less on my phone than I used to be. And I’m so much more like, let’s let life be boring. I just want to watch my kid play with Legos. That is a good morning in my book. Like that’s how I define it. And then the practical. And this is more for newborns slash little kids, but we did sleep training, which there’s lots of different ways to do it and every kid’s different. So I’m not going to pretend like the way we did is the cure all for every kid ever. I just raised one kid so I don’t know. But we did a little bit of Babywise, which is a book. Then also we did this online course called Taking Cara Babies. The woman’s name is Cara. So it’s like spelled taking Cara babies, the name, those are really helpful to us. Oscar sleeps through the night, very regular on his naps, which is great for daycare. It’s also great, like all the time. And it makes it where when he is at a grandma’s house or for traveling, I feel like we all kind of know what to expect more. And I’m not very strict on very many things as a parent, but that’s probably the number one thing I’m pretty strict about is making sure he can go to bed on time. Like I will leave a family function in the middle if it has gone too long and it’s his bedtime and everybody understands. 

Elsie: That’s how we are too. We’re very, a very scheduled family.

Emma: Yep. And I think that’s been really good for him and every kid’s different, but for our son, I think that has helped him a lot with growth and behavior and just like knowing what to expect with his day and that kind of thing.

Elsie: Okay. The next one is the best advice for life. So mine is kind of emo. 

Emma: You know, life is emo. Let’s hear it. 

Elsie: Okay. Okay. So I don’t know when it started, but for some reason my husband and I started this thing when we, I think when we were dating so a long time ago and it’s kind of like we try to envision that we’re waking up as our elderly self and try to really feel how much you would want to live a life or a day in this life now as the perspective for living a day. And he’s really emo about it and I am too. We’re definitely in a season of parenting now that is pretty exhausting and pretty full. It feels like it’s going really fast and it feels like we’re tired all the time. So it’s like a very good time. Anything that can make us slow down and appreciate it and just enjoy the little things that are beautiful about each day or things that I want to hold on to. So yeah, that’s mine. 

Emma: I love it. I had two things, less emo. So one is find passions and pursue them. So that could mean hobbies. It could mean really anything but I think it’s really important, especially when you’re young to be really passionate about something and it can be comic books. It can be theater. It can be whatever, but just like find things that really excite you and research them and become a fan girl. If it’s something that you’re gonna participate in then participate with all your heart. I just think that that’s what life might be for so like just being a really passionate curious person, so that. Then the other one is to grow or build or maintain, whatever phase you’re in, a really positive and important support system in your life. Some of us get lucky and we’re kind of born with it. I was that way. I have two wonderful parents and two awesome siblings I’m really close with, but I’ve also grown that network over time and some people have to grow. There’s a lot. And it also is work to maintain great relationships and friendships and family relationships. But it’s, again, I think maybe like what the point of life might be a little bit is having that support system when you need it and being a part of someone else’s support system when they need it. It’s just special and when you need it, it’s really important.

Elsie: That’s beautiful.

Emma: It’s like an entire Swifty concert, you know, whatever your support system. 

Elsie: I think that’s wonderful advice. We have a listener question from Kendall. Can you share what podcasts you listen to? So I will just be honest, I haven’t listened to a podcast in a while. So audiobook queen. I am like, audiobook mom, like go crazy. I at least listen to one to two audiobooks every week. So it’s like that’s all I do pretty much. Go for walks and listen to audio books. And if I have a little bit of time in my day alone, audio book, but the podcast that I enjoy most, my go to podcast, when I do listen to them, I have three. I like, I will Teach You to be Rich Podcast, our friend Ramit Sethi’s podcast. It is really good. So the thing I like about the podcast, if you follow him on Instagram or you’ve seen his show, I seriously think the podcast is like the best one. And the reason why is because it goes really, really in depth and it’s really personal with each couples. There’s sort of like financial therapy with him, like a counseling session. They’re usually really honest. I don’t know how he does it, like how he gets people to be so open and honest so seemingly fast. It’s very interesting. My favorite episode ever was an episode about a woman who knew that she was going to die, likely within the next 10 years. She had a certain condition that she likely wouldn’t have a long life. She was maybe in her forties, maybe early fifties and she had kids and she didn’t need to work because she also was a multimillionaire. And she couldn’t stop working and it was like such an interesting, emotional, it was so great. By the end of it, I think she was starting to think about it a little bit more, but it was just like the mind blocks that you put up with, like why you feel like you have to do things a certain way. That’s the thing I’ve loved most about learning from Ramit is that he teaches a lot about the emotional side of money and the psychological and sort of like if you’re raised a certain way with money that can be hard to change over time, even if your circumstances change. So anyway, love that podcast. My second one is You’re Wrong About. I’ve always listened to it since like Jessica Simpson era, remember when during COVID they were doing episodes about that book. I’ve always loved it since then. And I just think that it’s a great podcast. And then my third one is Elise Gets Crafty. Our friend, Elise has a podcast when people always ask me like, what’s a podcast that’s sort of like your podcast. That’s probably like the best one I would recommend. I don’t really know. I haven’t really heard a lot of podcasts that are similar to ours that are still currently making new episodes.

Emma: Yeah. John and Sherry’s. Thanks a lot.

Elsie: We all want it back, but we get it. John and Sherry’s podcast, Young House Love was our inspiration when we first started. If you just want an old podcast that you can like, it has a lot of episodes, you can marathon it and it’s great too. So also our friend Andi has a podcast called Your WooWoo Best Friend and I love the title. I’ve been a guest on it before and I would definitely go on it again. It’s a very spiritual podcast. So she teaches me pretty much everything I’ve ever learned about human design, astrology, and past lives. If you’re interested in any topic like that, she has a new book out. We’ll link all of that in our podcast show notes today. But yeah, I definitely recommend her podcast to just kind of like scratch that itch if you’re someone who has it.

Emma: I love that podcast and I also got a copy of her book and I love it and also Oscar loves it. It has little illustrations in it here and there.

Elsie: It’s Elemental. 

Emma: Yes, I love all the ones you mentioned too. So I will not remention them because you’ve already heard but for news slash money stuff, I like to listen to Planet Money and The Daily, which I believe are both NPR podcasts, I want to say. Then for pop culture stuff, Elsie already mentioned You’re Wrong About, but I also really like If Books Could Kill, which has Michael Hobbes and also Maintenance Phase, which is kind of about diet culture and other things too. But I love those podcasts. They’re really fun. I really love them for the hosts. I love the host. And I think they’re really funny and interesting and informative. Those are also areas that like, I don’t really know that much about, so it’s fun to learn. For murder stuff, my top two are Criminal, which is kind of a random one. They don’t just do serial killers. They do all sorts of very random things, like there’s one episode that I loved that’s from years ago now and it was about a shark that kept eating people because it was illegal for the shark to kill people. You know what I mean? So it’s just like any crime anyway, so it’s very interesting. Sometimes it has people who are impersonating a celebrity or bank robbers or someone who got away with some kind of fraud thing in the 1800s like it’s very random and it’s really fun. The host is amazing. I love her voice. So that, and then my other favorite murder one is My Favorite Murder. I’m a murderino, obviously, if you’re not, get with it. And then the only thing I was going to mention is for more spiritual slash feel good. I really love this podcast. My friend Madison does one called Everything Belongs. She has all sorts of different guests, so you can pick an episode based on something you might be interested in. But even the ones where it’s just her talking through things like her morning routine or her tea ritual or different things like that, I love them and I think she’s just very down to earth and interesting. There you have it. There’s some podcasts to listen to. 

Elsie: Yeah, and if you have any suggestions of a podcast that you know we would love, then send it our way, because I definitely think that I say the same ones every single time, and I’m curious to try a new one once in a while. Especially, maybe a book one. That’d be fun. Okay, so I’m going to pass it off to our next segment, a joke or a fact with Nova. Alright, we are back with Nova. Nova, what do you have for us this week? 

Nova: A joke. 

Elsie: A joke? Okay. 

Nova: My joke is what do storm clouds wear under their pants? 

Elsie: What do storm clouds wear under their pants? I don’t know. What is it? 

Nova: Thunderwear. 

Elsie: Ah, I love it. That’s a good one. We’ll be back next week with a comfort rewatch episode. We are going to do an oldie but a goodie Now and Then. So we will be back next week.

First off, I decided to get hypnotized because I was trying to stop biting my nails. I’ve been a nail biter my whole life, as long as I can really remember. I’ve had times I’ve stopped before, but it never seems to stick.

I’ve tried lots of different products and hacks over the years but nothing seemed to work for me long-term.

When I had my consultation call with my hypnotist, I shared my goal and I thought it was interesting to hear that many of his clients get hypnotized for other habit-related things like quitting smoking and weight loss.

I was his first client who was trying to quit biting their nails. And while it’s only been three months since I was hypnotized, I haven’t bitten my nails since, which is really, really great for me! Here’s what the process looked like.

If I’m being honest, I never really thought I’d try hypnosis. It seemed kind of, well, hokey. But one day I was looking at my nails, which were very bitten down and hurt, and I just thought “I need to try something else. I don’t want to give up yet.”

And I felt open to trying anything (safe). And while I didn’t have much confidence that getting hypnotized would work, I also was open to the possibility that it could.

And at the very least, it probably wouldn’t hurt in any way other than the small amount of time and money I invested in the experience. I also thought, worst case, it’s still a fun story. I had nothing to lose.

Consultation

I started by asking all my friends if they had ever been to a hypnotist in Springfield, Missouri where I live. No one had. So, I turned to Google. I found a few options and emailed/booked calls.

Personally, I probably would not have felt comfortable going straight into a session never having met the hypnosis or knowing anyone who had gone to them.

If you are looking to get hypnotized, I would recommend finding someone who offers a consultation call or some kind of introductory call (for free) so you can make sure it’s a fit.

Homework

Before the session, he had me fill out a couple forms. One was a pretty standard medical-type form. The other had me list my goal, reasons why I wanted to achieve this goal, and what my life would be like months and years after I achieved it.

Although this didn’t take long (probably 30-40 minutes to fill it out), it was super valuable. He used my answers during my session, so that’s part of the purpose.

But also, just sitting and thinking about why I wanted to stop biting my nails and list out the reasons and thinking about what life would look like once I did quit was very empowering. It made me feel even more motivated about my goal.

Getting Hypnotized

I chose to do hypnosis over a Zoom call rather than in person. I liked the idea of being in my home and feeling safe and alone during the process. With my knowledge and permission, he recorded our session and sent the recording to me afterward. I can go through the session again anytime I need, which is awesome.

I sat in my office chair (which is comfortable, but not put-you-to-sleep-comfortable) in my home office with the door closed during our call. It was quiet, but not perfectly so, I could hear a neighbor mowing part of the time which wasn’t an issue at all.

I had my eyes closed during the hypnosis and at times he had me do a few small actions like make a fist or lift my arm. Nothing too crazy. I didn’t have to “bawk” like a chicken, but I’m sure you could request that if you wanted.

The experience felt a lot like a guided mediation that was made just for me and my specific goal with some of my language (from the form) weaved throughout. I felt very relaxed afterward.

There were parts that felt emotional—like he had me visit child-Emma in my mind and give her a message of love. But I’m the sort of person I sometimes cry a little during yoga and definitely movies. I’m pretty open to my emotions when I choose to be.

I saw Andrew Waldowski with Vibrational Hypnosis. The consultation was free and the call was $150 for 1.5 hour session (in early 2023). He also mentioned Jo Moon (also in Springfield where I live) is another great option, although I haven’t tried.

I also really appreciate this podcast episode from Brit Morin: Does Hypnotherapy Work?, so that’s a great listen if you’re looking to learn more. What do you think about hypnosis? All the best, Emma

In this post, I will teach you everything I have learned about how to pack, how to move efficiently, and settle into your new home quickly. We’ll also cover budget tips and pointers for making the transition smooth for children.

I also have passionate feelings about the best packing supplies that streamline the process—especially if you are doing all the packing yourself!

Related: What I Learned Moving With Kids and How We Prepped Our Home To Sell.

Packing Tips For Moving

We chose to pack our own boxes because we wanted to take advantage of the chance to declutter and donate items as we packed.

I see the obvious benefits of hiring a mover to pack all your belongings for you, but I would at least consider doing it yourself if you feel you have a lot of clutter to get rid of. We spent time packing our belongings on nights and weekends.

Throughout this process, we saved thousands of dollars in moving fees and we were able to donate a lot of stuff instead of moving it and then donating it later. Here are my tips for doing your own packing:

• Get matching boxes. I completely understand how tempting it is to try to save all your Amazon boxes or procure some boxes from a local grocery store. But hear me out—it’s worth it to get boxes that are all exactly the same size. The boxes we used were primarily medium boxes with handles and bankers boxes (which require no packing tape). I highly suggest bankers boxes for books and heavy, small items.
  
• Use clothing bags for clothing and linens. We purchased plastic storage bags for moving all our “soft stuff” like clothing, bed linens, pillows, and even items like kids toys. These bags fit a lot more than boxes and create a plush layer that is great to use as padding in your POD for furniture, mirrors (or other items that you are very concerned about protecting).
  
• Label everything. Even if the box you are packing seems “random,” try to resist the urge to label it that way or not label it. Instead, make notes on the boxes of any items you may try to find later. If you want to do a color coded system, I recommend these moving box labels.
  
• Declutter ruthlessly as you go. As I mentioned above, one of the best perks of packing your own boxes is you can simultaneously declutter your belongings as you go. I recommend getting rid of anything that you don’t use, you don’t love, or that you’ve outgrown in style. I like to use the Marie Kondo “Does it spark joy?” method. Try to donate as much as possible.

Booking a Moving Service

After reading our friend Julia’s moving fraud experience, we decided against a moving broker or a full service moving company. I am sure there are many reputable options out there, but after reading her story we felt safest with a simple POD moving option.

Having used a POD in the past to relocate across state lines, we knew what to expect and felt good about the option.

The biggest difference between a POD and a moving truck like U-Haul is that you don’t have to drive to POD yourself. So once it is packed and locked up, you can drive to your new home (or even fly) with minimal belongings and you know your POD will make its way to you in a few weeks time.

The way our POD experience worked is that we booked an exact day that our POD would arrive—about a week before we departed from our home in Tennessee. Once the POD arrived, it sat in our driveway for around a week.

You can choose to pack the POD yourself or hire a local mover to help you pack it. We chose to do a hybrid approach. We packed the majority all our boxes ourselves over about a month’s time before the POD arrived.

On the day the POD was dropped off in our driveway, my husband loaded the majority of our boxes himself. He wanted to do this because he was meticulous about putting all the heavy boxes at the bottom. He packed each row all the way to the ceiling so there was almost no wasted space.

The next day, a moving crew arrived and helped us move large and heavy items into the POD that we couldn’t have done on our own. Since we sold most of our furniture with our home, we only had about 10 big and heavy items to move and it took less than an hour.

Once that was completed, we used every inch of the remaining space to fit more stuff into the POD. We ended up using 100% of the space within the POD and were able to fit almost everything we wanted into the space. What we couldn’t fit, we squeezed into our cars or donated before moving.

Why we like PODS – First of all, PODS are affordable. I haven’t found a more affordable option for moving across country. I really like that you have up to a week to pack so there’s time to get it just right (most of my mistakes in life are a result of rushing).

The POD system is extremely simple and straightforward. We felt protected from fraud and we saved a lot of money on the move overall. Our move cost under $4,000 total, which is a big savings on what it would have been with a full service option.

Cons of PODS (be careful for these things) – The biggest complaint that I hear from people who have used a POD for moving is that a lot of stuff was broken or damaged. You are basically packing a small semi truck back and then you don’t see it for about two weeks when it arrives in your new driveway.

What happens to them during their journey? This is unclear, but it seems like they maybe go to hell and back. Haha! OK, but really—you have to be very strategic in your packing! It’s up to you to make sure furniture is sufficiently padded and secured.

Assume that the items in your POD are going to have a VERY rough trip and pack accordingly.

There are several things we would NOT put in a POD and instead kept in our cars that we drive. One was very expensive equipment like computers, frame TVs, and my husband’s music gear.

Another thing is plants. I personally would not put plants in a POD unless you absolutely had to because they may not make it.

The last thing to be careful about is anything that can melt or freeze. Depending on the season, be careful and remember that this POD is not temperature controlled. I would not put candles and things like that in the POD as they could melt and make a mess.

The last con of moving with a POD is that you don’t know the exact day it will arrive at your new home. You will be given a window of time. So you have to be flexible and able to live without EVERYTHING in your POD for up to a week or two extra.

To make up for this, we made sure we packed two weeks of clothing in our cars and you’ll want to pack other essentials (like maybe air mattresses to sleep on) until your POD arrives.

Moving Tips and Hacks

• Pack a “comfort box” for each member of your family, including pets. Items you will find in our comfort boxes are anything you can pull out the first night to feel comfort. Examples include the kids’ favorite blankets and stuffies, my favorite candle with a lighter to light it right away, favorite snacks, socks, tea or coffee. It’s also a good idea to pack essential items in an overnight bag like toothbrushes and a few changes of clothing. Your future self will thank you!
  
• Keep one box for super important items like passports, bills you will need to pay (basically anything that can not get lost for a month).
  
• Pack boxes fully. Don’t leave big gaps in boxes. We filled in many of our boxes with towels, extra clothing, even rolls of toilet paper.
  
• I have moved my clothing on hangers several times. To do this, you keep bundles of clothing on hangers and cover them with (unscented) trash bags that are turned over with a hole for the hangers. It saves a lot of time.
  
• Choose boxes that are uniform in size and have handles. Our favorite options are this size for bigger items (kitchen appliances, toys, etc.) and this size for books and decor.
  
• Label necessary items you will need immediately VERY clearly. Make them very easy to find. This could include sheets and blankets, towels, toiletries and daily use kitchen items like a coffee maker or tea kettle.
  
• Reward yourself for all your hard work. You deserve it!

Note: If any part of you feels guilty buying moving supplies instead of procuring freebies and cast offs, here is my pep talk. Most importantly, uniform boxes and bags will make your moving truck packing more tight and professional.

And remember—you can pass ALL of these items along to the next person you know who is in need of moving supplies. Nothing needs to be wasted. Almost everything can be used again.

Get Organized Before You Move

Here are some ideas for your pre-move checklist:

• Schedule utilities, internet, lawn care, or any other services needed for your new home.
• Schedule a stop date for services at your previous home. We typically do it right after the new owners take occupancy and let them know the date so they can schedule new services.
• Have your mail forwarded to your new address by USPS. Change your address on all accounts you use often (like Amazon, any bills you receive each month, your bank, etc.).
• Schedule a grocery delivery for the day you move into your new home.
• Change the address for any subscriptions you have that arrive each month.

Best Moving Boxes and Packing Supplies

These are the supplies that I personally used. It’s very annoying to have to run to the store for simple things like more boxes or tape, so stocking up before you begin packing is smart. I reordered a few things as we began to run low.

• Medium boxes with handle holes. These are our go-to boxes for larger items. We only used a few boxes larger than this. The majority of our stuff like kitchen appliances, kids toys and things like that fit within these medium size boxes. They are the best size so they don’t get too heavy you can’t lift them.
  
• Bankers boxes. These are the best for packing books, files and any kind of paperwork. I LOVE these boxes because they don’t require any packing tape (at all!) and once you learn to fold them they are quick and easy to assemble. I also love how easy the tops are to take on and off. I strongly recommend these boxes for books because they are stronger than taped bottoms and don’t get too heavy. We moved hundreds of books in these boxes with no issues.
  
• Clothing bags. These are great for clothing and also linens, pillows, and holiday decor like Christmas trees, garlands, and wreaths.
  
• Moving labels. These are great because they are color coded as well!
  
• Safer box cutter. I love this thing! It’s easy to use, works great and is far safer than a metal razor blade.

Tips For Moving Cross Country

Strategy is everything when moving across state lines with children and pets. Since the majority of our belongings were in our POD on moving day, we stuffed our vehicles with everything else we could fit.

Unfortunately, we ran out of space and had to give some items away at the last minute. This is common, so plan for it by packing your top priority items first.

On our moving day, I had the car with our dog and two kids, and my husband drove our other car, which was way more stuffed with belongings.

• Plan carefully. Since space (both in your new home and your moving vehicle) will probably be limited, plan as well as possible and try not to pack things you will need to sell or donate once you arrive. Also, be strategic in what you pack, prioritizing as you go and leaving optional items for last. If you are packing in a rush, it’s hard to purge as you go, so I recommend starting as far in advance as you can. Ideally with months or weeks to pack.
  
• Sell, donate, purge. Before moving, get rid of everything you aren’t sure will work in your new home. If your new space is a different era or style or if your preferences have changed, consider this an opportunity to start fresh. I downsized my closet by about 50% before moving and we ended up selling our house with most of the furniture included. Even still, I donated about five more kitchen boxes immediately the first week we were in our new home. Purging as you go will help to eliminate some of this wasted effort and make unpacking more of a pleasant experience.
  
• Ship helpful items to yourself. Because we used the POD system, I knew we wouldn’t have beds or mattresses. So, I shipped us some nice air mattresses to use the first week, along with some other useful items like cleaning sprays and toilet paper—all the stuff you need immediately.
  
• Create comforts anytime you can. When we pulled into the driveway of our new home, my in-laws were in the front yard waiting for us. My mother-in-law had offered to buy us groceries that day (I should have said yes!). We had a scheduled deep clean a few days before we moved in. We did the comfort box idea and I had candles to burn and our kids’ favorite blankets and pillows. Even with all of these comforts, the moving day is stressful and exhausting. My suggestion is to do as many of these comforting tips as you can, but also accept that no matter how hard you try, moving is an emotional experience with highs and lows. This is to be expected and normal.

Tips for Moving with Children and Pets

I’ve moved several times with our young children and we get a lot of questions about how to make it easier on kids. The truth is that leaving your school, the comforts of the home, neighborhood and town your child knows is very scary.

For our children, the big feelings seemed to come in waves and the worst of it was weeks after we moved when the dust began to settle.

In addition to the comfort boxes, which we talked about above, I have a few tips for navigating a move with children.

• Leave space for sad feelings. There is nothing wrong with missing your old home, school, friends, or life before a move. Leave space for these feelings and for your child to work through them at whatever speed they need to. Sad feelings about a previous home or school are not a reflection on how they feel about the new home or new school. You can feel two feelings at the same time—these are normal, healthy emotions.
  
• Create things to look forward to. When we first told our children that we sold our home furnished and that we were leaving all the furniture (even their beds), they reacted with sadness, which we expected. To help the kids feel excited for our move, we let them help us choose new beds for each of their rooms along with themes and colors for their walls. We also reminded them often of the reason we were moving—so they could see their family whenever they wanted. This was a huge help and comfort to us as the move approached.
  
• Do fun activities right away. The week we moved, my husband and I were overwhelmed and exhausted. If it were just the two of us, we probably would have ordered in every night and never left the house. With the kids, we found it useful to jump into new activities right away. We joined a pool where they could go swimming with their baby cousin, we walked to dinner in our neighborhood, and I took each child out for individual time like visiting the local bookstore and going out for ice cream. These extra activities brought the kids a lot of comfort and joy and gave us a soft place to land that first week.

Moving with pets. Our dogs have tended to be pretty flexible in all our moves. My suggestion is to give them a few extra treats, extra walks, and a consistent place to sleep from the first night. I have heard that moving with cats is more of a challenge, so if you have had that experience I’d love to hear your learnings in the comments.

If you have any tips for moving, packing or navigating change, I’d love to hear them in the comments! Love, Elsie

The plant originates from the southern tip of Africa, and its uniqueness makes this plant a favorite for plant parents. String of Pearls is a creeping succulent that has green balls for leaves (they look like peas)!

In this post, I am going to share some tips on caring for a string of pearls. I will also share some other species of this plant family at the end of the post.

Related: Love plants? Learn how to care for Jade Plants, Rubber Trees, Snake Plants, Chinese Money Plants, Fiddle Leaf Figs, Peace Lilies, Calathea, Spider Plants, Air Plants, Monstera Plants, Christmas Cactus, Poinsettia, and Golden Pothos.

Potting

When you get a string of pearls from a garden store, what’s next? You will need some well-draining succulent soil mix, which you can buy at most garden centers. It has a mix of soil and sand.

The sand helps aid in soil aeration and lets the water flow more freely through the soil. I also like to put some extra perlite in my succulent soil.

Perlite is found in nature and is actually formed by volcanic eruptions. Perlite is great for helping your soil drain the water out faster, as well. 

For pots, get one that is about the same size (definitely not smaller) or a tiny bit bigger than the plastic pot that it came in (it will likely come in a plastic hanging basket). I like to use a terracotta pot or an earthenware pot. 

The most important aspect when choosing a pot is that it must have a drainage hole so the water has a way of escaping. If the water cannot escape the pot, then there is a good chance the plant could die due to being waterlogged.

Next, mix up your soil with a couple of scoops of perlite and have it ready to go. Take your pot and put a little soil in the bottom.

Next, carefully remove your string of pearls from the pot by gently placing your hand on top of the plant, slightly wiggle the pot until the plant pops out.

You might lose a few pearls (leaves) in this process, but that’s OK! Place your plant in the pot and make sure the plant sits about even with the pot’s rim. I put the roots about 1 centimeter under the rim and the pearls are all on top of the rim.

Don’t let the plant lay lower than the pot’s rim because water can pool on top of the leaves. 

The plant loves to drink up light and trail over the edge of the pot. Once you have the crown of the plant placed correctly, take the extra dirt and backfill around the plant. I like using a chopstick to push down the dirt around the plant.

Once you’re done backfilling the dirt, the string or pearls will likely need untangling (especially if you have a long one). Be patient during this process. If I slightly tug on a stem it could snap!

Carefully look for a whole stem and gently untangle it so it lays draping over the pot. I go around the whole plant until all stems are untangled. You will probably lose a few more pearls during this process too, but it’s OK! 

Note: Even though this plant has lots of amazing qualities, string of pearls plants are toxic for humans and pets if ingested. If a bead (leaf) falls off a stem onto the floor, then I will quickly pick it up so my dog does not eat them. 

Light

The string of pearls likes a bright and sunny environment in your home. An east or west facing window will work great. I place mine right near a window so they can drink up lots of light.

Try to avoid placing it near any vents or drafty parts of your home (near a door opening up in the winter, etc.). It will not like any kind of extreme air temperatures blowing on it. During the warmer summer months, you can also put it under a sun porch or covered porch to soak up bright indirect light.

Direct sunlight could burn your plant, so try to avoid it sitting in the sun for hours on end or they will get scorched. When temps begin to drop, bring your plant indoors.

Before you bring it indoors, always check for pests or bugs. When I was bringing in my succulents from our covered porch at the end of summer, I found a baby black widow hiding under a leaf. This has happened to me again a couple of years later!

My lesson was learned quickly so thoroughly inspect any plant before you bring it back into your home.

Watering

Figuring out a watering routine and getting to know your plant’s schedule will really pay off. String of pearls do not like to get soaked or sit in water for long periods of time. I like to say that I “moisten” my string of pearls instead of watering them.

This helps remind me that they don’t need excessive water. The plant has a shallow root system, so generally the top half of my string of pearls pot needs water. I use a small vessel with water in it and lightly water over the whole top of the plant.

Overwatering the string of pearls will be the biggest killer to your plant. You can tell if a plant is overwatered by the leaves looking squishy or they lose their deep green color and become a bit translucent and soft. 

If you are shopping for a new string of pearls, be mindful of this. You’ll want a plant with deep green pearls and soil that is not waterlogged.

Not sure when to water your string of pearls? It really depends on where you live and humidity levels. Dryer climates will require more water and vice versa.

You can test the soil by sticking your finger in a part of the soil to check moisture levels or lift your pot to see if it has any weight from holding water.

Make sure your water temp is lukewarm to cool (think of rainwater temp). The string of pearls will not tolerate extreme cold or hot temps when watering.

They love to be watered frequently in the spring and summer months (during its growing season), but back off on frequent watering in the fall/winter months. The string of pearls likes to dry out but not be bone dry.

How can you tell when it is bone dry? The dirt around the circumference of the pot will pull away from the pot. If this has happened, no worries, give it a watering and try to water your plant sooner next time to avoid the dirt drying out too much.

If this happened multiple times, it could affect your leaves and plant’s root health. Another aspect of root health is root rot. This can be detrimental to your plant.

Root rot happens when the roots stand in water too long and they eventually rot and die. It can be a very sad and slow death for a string of pearls.

If you suspect that your plant has been sitting in water for too long and it might have root rot, pull it out of the pot to inspect the roots. If the roots are firm and grayish white, that is great. If they are mushy and look blackish, then your plant likely has root rot.

If it’s not too far gone, you can try to snip the dead roots off and leave the healthy, firm ones. Placing the plant in fresh (not waterlogged soil) will help as well. 

What is the best kind of water to use? If you are using tap/city water, you can leave your tap water out in an open container for 24 hours so some of the chemicals evaporate. After 24 hours, the water is cleaner and healthier for your plant!

Fluoride and chlorine can build up in your string of pearls root system, so this method of leaving your water out will pay off in the long run. Using filtered water or collected rain water (if you can) is a great option, too!

If you have well water, then your plant will love that. My friends who have well water have THE best plants. 

Propagating

You can propagate the string of pearls three ways! The first way is by using water. First, find a healthy stem. I like to use stems that are at least 4-5 inches.

Using clean scissors or cutting shears, cut your stem. Remove any beads about 1.5-2 inches from the bottom of the cutting.

Leave the stem laying out for 24 hours so the fresh cut on the end of the stem can form a callus. Make sure it stays out of any sunlight during this healing period.

After 24 hours, place your fresh cutting in water. The side of the cutting with the removed leafs can be placed in the water. Keep the remaining pearls above the water line.

Be sure to change water anytime it gets cloudy and rinse out your vessel. Place in a sunny spot in your home. After 3-4 weeks you should see little roots sprouting from the cutting! 

Wait until the roots are at least 1 inch long before you plant it in dirt. Once it is ready to be potted, use a small terra-cotta or clay pot with good draining cactus/succulent soil.

I like to use a chopstick to create little holes for the newly rooted plant. Moisten lightly and your plant should start growing.

The next way to propagate is by using dirt. Using the same methods as above, you will snip your plant, wait 24 hours, and instead of placing it in water, place your plant in soil (well draining, succulent soil).

Use a chopstick (or pencil) to create a fresh hole for your new cutting, tuck the dirt around the plant. I like to mist my plant to keep the soil slightly moist and not bone dry.

After about three weeks, I give the plant a very gentle tug to see if it is rooting. If the new cutting stays in place, then I know new roots are forming. This is always exciting! If your plant has started to form roots, then it is ready for a watering.

Another way to propagate your string of pearls is by layering. I find this approach to be the most effective. Take a fresh pot of succulent soil, mist it, and then take a good long cutting from your string of pearls. Swirl or coil the cutting over the top of the dirt on the pot. 

Fertilizing

I like to fertilize my plant once a month during the growing season (spring and summer) using a balanced fertilizer. I use half of the manufacturer’s recommended rate when I mix my fertilizer.

I love liquid fertilizer because it mixes so easily with the water and I don’t have to worry about it not being evenly distributed in my plants.

One thing I love about this species of plant is the different varieties. Pictured above is “String of Turtles”—the turtles look like little turtles backs. “String of Watermelons” are plump and their leaves resemble a watermelon (pictured below). 

Aren’t they unique and whimsical? I hope you enjoy these plants as much as me! -Janae

My favorite rubber tree is in a scene from the movie Sabrina with Audrey Hepburn. In the scene, they are having a lavish party and there is a beautiful, tall rubber tree in the room. That rubber tree is definitely a plant goal for me.

Maybe someday mine will get that big and beautiful! With proper care, the tree can reach up to 10 feet tall (sometimes taller) indoors! 

Related: Love plants? Learn to care for Fiddle Leaf Figs, Jade Plants, Calathea, Pilea Plants, Snake Plants, Monstera, Peace Lilies, Air Plants, Spider Plants, Christmas Cactus, Poinsettia, and String of Pearls.

The rubber tree is also known as the Ficus Elastica and comes from India and parts of tropical Asia. The shiny, leathery leaves give this plant a distinct look. There is really nothing like it! The rubber tree has a wonderful shape and is a great option for anyone who loves houseplants. 

Potting

When you bring home a new rubber tree, here are a few things to consider in regards to potting it. It might seem like a good idea to put your plant in a big pot so it has lots of room to grow, but the rubber tree prefers to be a bit crowded in a pot.

Try to choose a pot that gives about 2 inches of soil around the whole diameter. This will give your plant plenty of room to grow and thrive. When choosing a pot, earthenware is always a great option. Unglazed earthenware allows the moisture in the dirt to evaporate out of the pot and dry out faster.

A glazed earthenware pot will not have the same abilities to let the moisture come out. I use both kinds of pots but a really important aspect of the pot is to make sure it has a drainage hole so water has a way to escape (sitting water will most definitely kill your rubber tree).

Once you have your pot figured out, it’s time to think about soil. The rubber tree likes well draining soil. An all-purpose indoor mix works great, but I add some extra perlite to give the soil more aeration.

Perlite is an organic material that comes from volcanic eruptions and you can find it at most garden stores. Scoop some of your potting mix and place it on the bottom of the pot. Then, put your plant in so that it sits about 3 inches under the top pot.

Fill in the rest of the dirt, making sure your plant stays nice and straight. Use your hand to move dirt down as you move around the pot. Once the sides are filled, place a small layer of dirt over the top of your plant.

Once the plant is potted, place it in the spot you intend to leave it (rubber trees don’t like change). Repotting can sometimes make your plant drop leaves, so if this happens, don’t fret … it’s just getting used to its new environment.

A period of rest is vital for your rubber tree once it’s been repotted and placed in a new spot. Not sure about the best spot to put your plant?

Light

This plant loves to drink up the light, so placement in your home is crucial to maintain a healthy plant. The first thing when choosing a spot is to make sure that it doesn’t have a draft, isn’t near a vent, or has an AC unit blowing on it.

The plant will most likely drop leaves (or it can die) if it is near a draft. The rubber trees thrive on an indoor temperature of 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit. Find a place in your home with medium to bright light. Brighter light will help your plant grow faster.

If you put it in a darker spot of a room it can become “leggy” as it tries to stretch toward the light. If your plant is “reaching” then just place it in a brighter spot. The rubber tree has some beautiful variegated species that do require more light.

The tricolor variegated species has green, white and pink in its leaves. The white in the leaf requires more light due to lack of chlorophyll levels. They can “burn” easily so keep an eye on the leaves.

They will tell you if they are getting too much light. If there is any brown on the tip (burning), that means there is too much light hitting your variegated plant. 

Back to the non-variegated rubber tree. What if you don’t have great window light or you’re worried about your room being too dark? Placing a mirror by the plant will help bounce more light onto your plant.

Another tip to create a brighter environment is a white room. White paint will bounce more light around! Seems so simple, but it really is effective in helping with a low light situation in a room.

If you want to get maximum light on your rubber tree, then make sure the leaves are free of dust. I have found that the rubber tree can get quite dusty, so check the leaves every few weeks for dust buildup.

If there is dust present, then a damp cloth will work great to remove it. When dusting the rubber tree, be careful with new leaves. The new, thin leaves are very fragile and if damaged while they are young, then the damage will stay on the leaf its whole life.

When dusting mature leaves, make sure you place your hand under the leaf for support. Extra pressure on the leaf could cause it to snap while dusting. This has happened to me before and it’s quite sad.

When it snaps, there will be a white sap-like liquid that comes from the leaf where it was detached from the branch. It is completely normal but it can irritate some people’s skin, so wash hands just in case it gets on your skin.

Watering

Finding a consistent watering rhythm for your tree will help give you the confidence you need to keep your plant alive and healthy for years to come. If the leaves start to droop a bit, then you know your plant is very thirsty.

Rubber trees like to dry out but they don’t like to become bone dry. Another way to tell if your plant is really thirsty is when you’re watering and the water runs out quickly through the soil. Soil with more moisture will take longer to drain. If the water runs straight through, then give it another good soak.

The rubber tree enjoys generous watering but make sure it has time to dry out to avoid root rot (this happens when the plant is waterlogged or if it sits in water too long).

If root rot happens. then your plant doesn’t have a great chance of living anymore, so avoid overwatering at all costs. As a rule of thumb, let the top 2/3 of your plant’s soil dry out before watering your rubber tree again.

You can also stick your finger in the soil 3-4 inches) and feel if there is any moisture or pick up the pot and feel if the post is heavy from holding moisture. After watering your rubber tree, if any water drains into your saucer, discard the extra water so the plant doesn’t sit in water and get root rot.

Watering duration will depend on your climate and humidity levels. If you live in a drier climate, then your plant will need to be watered more frequently. Once you figure out your plant’s rhythm/duration of drying out, a watering routine should be really easy to adhere to. This plant loves consistency and will grow better with a steady routine.

Pruning

The rubber tree can grow tall if left unpruned. If left unpruned, your tree will have one long trunk. If this is your desired look, then great! This will make your tree grow vertical faster!

If you’d like to have more of a “bushy” tree, then you can use your fingers and pinch off a new growing tip to promote the plant to create more branches.

If you snip or prune a branch, then that part will split into two branches once the new growth comes in. Pruning is an exciting habit that produces great results over time.

Fertilizing

The rubber tree loves to be fed with fertilizer to promote growth. Fertilize your tree in the spring/summer (the growing season), but back off in the fall/winter months. Fertilizing your plant every other watering session is a good rule of thumb.

I love using a liquid fertilizer that I can add to my water. 

Knowing my fertilizer is a liquid gives me the peace of mind that the fertilizer is evenly distributed throughout the water (unlike granules or a powder mix). When choosing fertilizer, it will have three letters on the package: NPK.

The “N” stands for Nitrogen. Nitrogen helps with chlorophyll production, which leads to photosynthesis, which leads to a bigger, healthier plant! The “P” stands for Phosphorus. Phosphorus helps with keeping the roots of your plant healthy and promotes root growth.

The last letter “K” stands for Potassium. Potassium helps your plant distribute nutrients. It also helps your plant fight off disease. Think of it as an immunity booster for your plant! A standard fertilizer for houseplants will work great for your rubber tree.

Make sure to read the label of your fertilizer and follow the instructions. I like using half of the recommended fertilizer amount with the rubber tree. Using too much fertilizer can cause your plant to burn.

Burning means that too many nutrients have been stored in the root system and they cannot accept/absorb water anymore. If there is a chance that your plant has had too much fertilizer then give it a good watering to flush the roots. Don’t fertilize the next week so that your plant has time to recover and rest.

What if Your Rubber Tree is Dropping Leaves?

When you repot your rubber tree or move it, it is very common for it to drop a couple of leaves due to shock. Old leaves will fall off here and there as they age out as well. This is totally normal!

What if your rubber tree drops a bunch of leaves at the same time? This isn’t normal and it could be due to overwatering or other issues. If your tree’s leaves begin to droop, turn yellow and eventually fall off, then this is most likely due to overwatering.

The yellowing of the leaves is called Chlorosis. Chlorosis means that chlorophyll is not forming in your plant. It is amazing that plants can tell you what they need through their color.

If your leaf is turning yellow, it is likely a call for help. Back off watering and make sure your plant is drying out between watering so that it doesn’t get waterlogged.

If it continues to happen, pop your plant out of the pot and check for root rot. The quickest way to tell if your plant has succumbed to root rot is finding mushy, black or dark roots. If you see this, sometimes your plant can be saved but there is a chance the roots are done and the plant won’t make it.

If you can, snip the dead roots out of the root system and place the plant in a pot of fresh soil (not the waterlogged soil from the previous pot). Give your plant some time and hopefully it will come back to life! 

Another reason your plant’s leaves could be turning yellow is a lack of light. If this is the case, then set your plant in a brighter spot so it can soak up more sun. The sun is like medicine for your plant and this could cure your leaf drop problem. Also, make sure the plant is not near a draft as this will also cause the leaves to drop.

The rubber tree’s temperament is pretty easygoing and it is a great addition to any plant lover’s home. I hope these tips help and you’re able to enjoy your rubber tree for years to come! -Janae

The scientific name for this particular sansevieria is Dracaena Trifasciata. It has striking sculptural beauty and the care is very simple. I have snake plants in nearly every room of my home and they bring lots of visual interest to the environment! 

Related: Love plants? Learn how to care for Jade Plants, Peace Lilies, Fiddle Leaf Figs, Calathea, Pilea, Monstera Plants, Spider Plants, Christmas Cactus, Poinsettia, and String of Pearls like a pro!

There have been studies that show the sansevieria removes harmful chemicals from the environment and releases oxygen, resulting in it having air purifying qualities. The jury is still out on how effective it is in purifying the air, but I still have one in almost every room

This special plant is a great starter plant and with its easy care, you can’t go wrong with it! In this post, I wanted to share some tips on caring for your sansevieria.

Potting

When you get a sansevieria from the garden store or maybe a friend shared part of theirs, you need to know what to do so your new plant can thrive. First, snake plants LOVE well draining soil. Avoid compact soil because this kind of soil will hold more moisture and could lead to root rot.

Root rot is when the soil gets waterlogged. If the plant stays wet for too long, the roots can rot and eventually, your plant will die. This is the quickest way to kill a sansevieria.

These plants are very similar to cacti when it comes to their care. They don’t like to be sitting in water for too long. One of the main things that will keep your plant from root rot is well draining soil.

You can buy a premade cactus/succulent soil (it’s a mix of sand and soil) and most garden stores will carry it. Having the sand in the soil will keep the soil aerated and let the water run through the soil.

Adding a scoop of Perlite is a wonderful addition if you’d like to maximize the soil’s aeration. Perlite is naturally derived and comes from volcanic eruptions. If you add your own sand to your soil mix, make sure it’s made specifically for gardeners and growers.

Other sands (like play sand) are actually more compact and not the best for drainage in your plants. It may go without saying, but never use soil that has been outside. This will make your plant susceptible to pests or other organisms found outdoors.

I did this once and learned my lesson very quickly and brought in extra little critters that were harmful to my plant.

For pots, I love terracotta pots. These are the reddish clay ones that you can find almost anywhere. The terracotta allows the dirt to “breathe” so the moisture isn’t trapped inside. Terra cotta pots help with avoiding root rot as well.

The plant will dry out much faster in a terracotta pot because the clay wick’s water is from the soil. I have some plants in decorative earthenware pots that are not terracotta as well, but they all have a drainage hole at the bottom.

Make sure all pots have a drainage hole so the water has a way of escaping! Sitting water at the bottom of your pot will likely lead to death by root rot. Sometimes, I will find a gorgeous clay pot but there is no hole on the bottom!

This is easily fixed by drilling a hole using a specific drill bit. A quick YouTube video will teach you what you need to know if you’ve never drilled a hole in a pot. 

I repot my sansevieria only when they need a little more wriggle room or when I purchase a new plant and need to take it out of the plastic pot it came in. I like to get a pot that gives my new plant about 2 inches of growth room around the whole diameter of the pot.

This gives the plant room to grow but it’s still a bit snug. Replanting your sansevieria in too big of a pot means more soil, leading to more time to dry out, which can lead to root rot.

Quick tip: The downside to using a terracotta pot is that because the pot lets the moisture breathe, the moisture will likely end up on the surface that your pot is on.

If you have a pot on a wood floor or wood surface, just make sure you place a plate or nonporous material under the pot to protect the pot from ruining your surface.

How Much Light Does a Snake Plant Need?

The wonderful thing about sansevieria is that it can handle diverse lighting situations. The plant will grow better in bright light (near a window in your home), but it can handle a darker corner in your home as well.

Low light is OK for the plant and it will be just fine in a room with low light. At my son’s school, there is an absolutely beautiful sansevieria in a room with no windows! The only light source is fluorescent light bulbs that are turned on during the day.

It’s amazing to see this plant thrive in what appears to be poor lighting conditions. It truly is an incredibly adaptable plant! I have sansiervieras all over my home and each one is in a different lighting situation. The ones near the windows will definitely grow faster, but the ones in low light are still happy (just a little smaller). 

A rule of thumb when it comes to lighting: Just because they can live in low light doesn’t mean that they will necessarily thrive in low light. They will definitely grow better in bright light.

Watering

I find the more I forget about my snake plant, the better! Only water when the soil is dry. I like to stick my finger in the soil about 3-4 inches to see if the soil is completely dry. If there is a little moisture in the soil, then I will check it again in a week.

How your plant holds moisture will depend on where you live. If you live in a dryer climate, then it will dry out faster, or if you live in a humid climate, then it will hold water longer. One tip that I have found to be vital is that I do not water my succulents or plants that like to dry out on rainy days.

Watering on rainy days keeps my plants soggy and they take longer to dry out. Or, if there is rain in the forecast, I will wait to water until the rain is over. I water my sansevierias every 2-3 weeks. In winter, I taper off watering and water about every 4 weeks.

When watering, my rule of thumb is to just water the first 6 inches of soil. I don’t soak my plants with water because of the threat of root rot. I’d rather under water than over water them. 

Sansevierias do not like their leaves to be wet, so when you water, just pour the water on the soil and try to avoid getting any water on the leaves. When new growth is coming in on sansevieria, little leaves form rosettes.

These rosettes do not like getting wet or especially don’t like water pooling in them. Water in the rosettes can be detrimental to your plant, so try to avoid that at all costs. Sansevierias like room temperature water.

If you are using tap/city water when you water, you can leave your tap water out in an open container for 24 hours so some of the chemicals evaporate. After 24 hours, the water is cleaner and healthier for our plant.

Fluoride and chlorine can build up in your sansevieria, so this method of leaving your water out will pay off in the long run. Using filtered water or collected rain water is a great option too!

Dusting

Dusting the leaves is a wonderful habit that your sansevieria will thank you for. I grab a slightly damp cloth (not too wet!) and wipe the leaves down on both sides. This will help the sun hit the plant and not block photosynthesis from taking place.

I turn my plant every time I water it. Turning your plant will promote even growth (especially if your plant is near a window). Another tip is to keep your windows nice and clean (on the inside and outside)! This can make a big difference with the amount of light getting to your plant. Squeaky clean windows will let in more light!

Propagating

Propagating a sansevieria is a fun and wonderful process to watch. You can propagate in water or in soil. I personally love propagating in water because you can see the new root growth happening before your eyes.

If you’d like to propagate your sansevieria, simply cut off a leaf using a freshly washed tool. I find scissors are great! You can cut the leaf straight on the bottom or cut a “V” shape on the bottom. This “V” gives your plant more real estate to grow new roots.

Grab a glass vase or jar and stick your newly cut leaf in it. I like to sill my water about 4 inches above the bottom of my freshly cut leaf. Keep your plant in the water and watch little roots start to sprout!

Change the water and rinse the vessel anytime the water gets cloudy. I place my new cutting in front of a window so they can soak up lots of light. When the roots start to grow, you can leave the leaf in the water (I’ve left mine in water for months!) and it will do just fine.

When the roots have sufficient growth (1-2 inches is great), you can pot it in soil! Super easy!

If you want to propagate using the soil method, simply cut your plant (just like mentioned above) and stick your freshly cut plant into a pot with damp soil. As your plant begins to root (you can’t see it happening like the water method), you must make sure the soil doesn’t dry out too much.

As the roots make their way out and grow, they will need constant contact with the soil, so don’t let your plant dry out too much when you are trying to propagate. I’ll check on my freshly propagated leaves and give them more attention than usual.

If the soil has become bone dry, then I will give them a good soak in water. It is very satisfying when your new plant takes root and even begins growing new leaves!

Lastly, one of the best things about sansevieria is the variety of species! This plant has a diverse and beautiful plant family. The classic and most popular plant is the sword-shaped leaf that you see EVERYWHERE (like in this post).

Don’t be afraid to try new species because their care is very similar. Here are two different sansevieria I have in my home. It’s amazing how unique each one is!

Other Species of Snake Plants

This species is called Whale Fin. It looks like a whale’s fin breaching the water. I love how this plant stands alone. This one leaf is so dramatic and beautiful. Other leaves will eventually grow, but I love the way it looks right now!

This species is called the Cylindrical Snake plant. Its leaves fan out and it becomes quite large. I’ve had to separate this plant three times just because it grows so quickly!

Enjoy your journey with snake plants! -Janae

We’ve been renovating homes nearly constantly for 10 years now. In that time, we made plenty of mistakes and learned lessons the hard way. In this post, I’ll share my personal tips for finding trustworthy contractors and managing them yourself.

I’ll also share how I search for new contractors and get the most accurate quotes. I’m so excited to share this with you as renovating has been a true joy to me and something I am very proud of. I’ll help you make your first experience as painless as possible.

Related: Check out our Home Decor 101 archive for more tips.

The difference between a general contractor and tradespeople:

A general contractor is a project manager who manages all the work being done on your home. For most projects (for example, a kitchen or bathroom), if you want to be able to hire just ONE person who takes care of the entire project, you will need to hire a general contractor.

It’s rare that any contractor will do an entire renovation project solo (and it will likely be a longer timeline). A general contractor will oversee your project by planning it, hiring all the tradespeople needed, sometimes sourcing and buying needed supplies, and checking in daily (or frequently) to make sure everything is on track.

A tradesperson is someone who does one trade. For example, when you renovate even the smallest half bathroom, you may need a tile person, a wallpaper installer, a plumber and an electrician.

I recommend looking for tradespeople who specialize in one trade as they are often the most skilled and professional. I recommend working only with licensed contractors— especially on essential functions of the home like electrical and plumbing.

Pros and cons: The pro of working with a general contractor is that they will manage the project for you. You will have less responsibility and it can save a lot of time, especially if you don’t know any trades you like and you would need to hire everyone from scratch.

Another pro of a general contractor is that if a problem arises with a trade (often not showing up), it is their job to take care of it. If you are a person who hates confrontation, this is something to consider.

One last pro of a general contractor is that you will receive one quote that includes everything. It’s a quicker way to figure out the cost of your project. The cons of working with a general contractor are that their project management services, understandably, cost money.

The overall budget for your project will be at least 20% more, and in my experience, it was more than that.

For tradespeople, I will start with the cons. For me, the biggest con is all the hiring of new trades. There is an interviewing process (more on that soon) that is time consuming.

Anytime you are renovating for the first time in a new area, you have to find a new lineup of tradespeople who you like and trust. When starting a huge project, like a slow whole house remodel, it can be worth it to find all these people.

In my experience, when you find great trades you can work with them for years. The other major con of foregoing a general contractor is the added responsibilities of managing trades yourself. You will be responsible for paying them directly and working out any conflicts that may arise.

The biggest pro of working directly with trades is probably the budget savings.

My personal preference: In the early years of our renovations, we chose to work directly with trades and not a general contractor because it was the only option that fit our small budgets. As the years went by, I became familiar with the process and comfortable being the project manager.

I remember it being so stressful in the beginning, but over time I found a comfortable rhythm. These days, I love working directly with tradespeople and find it easier, faster, and less expensive to get exactly the outcome I want.

I am able to be honest immediately when I see something I don’t like or that is not going to plan. Developing good communication skills is a must. Since I became used to working directly with trades, it is now my preference for most small cosmetic projects.

I love that I can save some of my budget by self managing to splurge in other places. I would still hire a general contractor for projects I am inexperienced in and anything on the scale that requires a permit.

For major projects, there is also a hybrid approach to consider.

If you want a general contractor, and need to save budget, tell them you already have your own painter or floor person. Trades like that are the easiest to find a hire. That way, you’ll save a bit on the markup on a few of the highest budget items.

Tips for hiring a contractor or trades:

I am currently looking for a general contractor for some of the large scale work on our new home. Here’s how I searched:

• Ask people in your neighborhood if there are any trusted teams that work there a lot.
• My ideal contractor is always one with a medium price point. I never look for the cheapest contractors because they often get more expensive with time and bring too much personal drama into my project.
• If the price is shockingly low, be very cautious. In my experience, I am looking for someone who tells me a real price that has reasoning behind it. For things like wood floors and tile there is usually a price per square foot. For things like custom built-ins, the price may be more obscure to you, and that is normal.
• In my experience, the medium priced contractors are the true best priced option and it’s usually best to go with the reasonable price instead of the bargain.
• Ask people in your neighborhood for specific trade recommendations. Do you have a plumber you like?
• Ask people what contractor team specializes in your type of home (historic? mid-century? new build?).
• Ask every person you know who has renovated in the past five years. Ask specifically Would you hire them again after your experience with them? and What are their strengths and weaknesses? No renovation is perfect, so it’s good to find out how their handled mistakes and challenges.

Let’s talk interviewing. I consider the first appointment both an opportunity to get a quote AND and interview on my part. I’ve learned that the best contractors will also be interviewing you to see if you will be a good client (more on how to prepare below).

Once you have a shortlist of a few GCs or trades you want to interview (I would do two or three interviews/quotes for each role you are filling), it’s time to prepare for your first appointment.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to ask for a quote and nothing else. This is your chance to try to learn more about how they operate and what to expect. Here are some good things to consider asking for:

• Photos of similar projects they are proud of, or really any photos they are proud of. Let them show you what they are best at.
• A couple references of local houses you can call. Often they will even try to arrange to let you see their renovation in person.
• Ask – What precautions do you find help most to keep a project on budget?
• Ask – What hidden costs do you foresee in my renovation?
• Ask – What is your usual timeline like? What are some ways we can keep our project on schedule?
• Tell them you need to agree on a payment schedule at the beginning that is supply costs up front and then a payment each time a mile marker on the project is completed.

Try a test project. Before you hire a contractor to do a big renovation, hire them to do something smaller. I would especially recommend this for anyone gearing up for a large or full house renovation.

If you have a chance to do something smaller first—just a bathroom, for example, you will be able to make sure you like the team and work well together before jumping into a bigger commitment together.

A sexism pep talk for women. Navigating sexism is something that has come up often for me as a woman hiring primarily men contractors and tradespeople. Many (many) times male contractors have walked into our home for the first time, taken a look around and ask, “What does your husband do?”

It’s absolutely shocking and never OK, but for me it has also been a necessary evil. I see it as accepting the world I live in, not the world I wish I lived in. To be fair, I have worked with many respectful men, but here are my tips for when sexism does arise:

• My husband and I let them know clearly that I am the one in charge and that he doesn’t need to OK anything. My husband intentionally doesn’t weigh in on opinions and asks me what I think in front of a new contractor to set the tone. His answer for everything is, “You’d better ask Elsie.”
• By being very prepared for your first quote meeting you will show them that you are serious and you know exactly what you want.
• One of the major things I run into is contractors trying to talk me into and out of choices. Often they have good intentions and are just trying to do for you what they usually do. While it’s good feedback about items like safety or function, it’s frustrating to be repeatedly questioned on design choices. Now I always prepare for this with lots of photos.
• Never let a contractor talk you into something you don’t want or don’t like just because you feel put on the spot. Say you need a day to think it over.

How to prepare to get a quote:

When we did our first big remodel, I was ghosted by contractors a lot. They would come to my house to give me a quote and then I would never get the quote and never hear from them again. Years later, I realize that I was the problem.

When a contractor showed up at my house, I would be unprepared and just walk through the house with them talking about how I wanted each room to look. Often I didn’t even know exactly what I wanted, but I still expected them to send me a quote.

Contractors do not want to work with people who are still deciding what they want. They want a project that is understandable and ready to begin in a certain time frame.

The other mistake I made in early years was never saying my budget. I was so focused on trying to get a good deal that I mistakenly believed that not saying my budget would bring me a lower quote.

Contractors cannot read your mind and with good contractors the prices are not really negotiable. It’s unfair to invite a contractor over to get a quote without having at least a ballpark budget of what you are hoping to pay.

In fact, I have often found it more helpful to say your true IDEAL budget as many contractors will try and help you adjust the scope of your project to fit your budget. It’s a good starting point and helps you get on the same page.

All the things I prepare before meeting with a contractor:

I have found that fully preparing (some would say over-preparing) helps me get the most accurate quotes and have a more productive first meeting with a new contractor.

It also shows them that I will be a responsible client and good communicator. I like to take my time and spend at least a few nights preparing all the visuals and examples before meetings begin.

• Sketches of how I want my project to look (be as detailed as possible).
• All of my sources are picked out. Currently, I am preparing for a bathroom quote and I chose the vanity, tub, all the hardware, the tile, and even the toilet before my first meeting with a potential contractor.
• Visual examples. Pinterest photos that show all the details of your project. This is not a mood board where the colors and vibe matters—–this is a way to communicate if you want your tile installed a special way or you want an arched door added.
• Never assume they can see what is in your head. Always double communicate by showing examples.
• Know your ideal time frame. They will always want to know when they can start and when you need it done by. If you are renovating before moving into a new house, I recommend saying everything “needs” to be done one to two months before you move in. Delays are normal and you will want a chance get it cleaned up before moving in.
• Know your budget. Know the lowest price you are hoping to pay as well as the highest you are willing to pay for a job.

When I first started renovating, I was always afraid to seem high maintenance or fussy, when really those words are just synonyms for being very detailed and invested in my renovation.

Now, I don’t try to mask those qualities. I let contractors know that I do care about the details. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s far better for everyone involved to be extremely specific about what you want than to go into a project without a plan.

How to budget for overages and the unexpected:

You’ve probably heard to old advice, “It will cost twice as much and take twice as long as what they say.” This was definitely true for the bargain contractors I hired early on in my renovations.

I haven’t found it to be true across the board, though. Unexpected expenses will pop up! Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Contractor quotes don’t include unexpected problem-solves in their quotes. We have had them on almost every gut renovation we’ve ever done. Sub floors are rotten and need replaced, hard woods aren’t salvageable and need to be replaced, mold is found and has to be remediated. These types of problems are common.
• There are usually more supplies than you anticipate. Little things add up, even if you are careful.
• My personal problem is that I usually keep adding ideas on after I have my quote, which adds expenses.

Here’s how I keep myself on budget and also always have funds to cover for an unexpected expense:

• Always keep at least $10K or 20% (whatever is more) on hand for unexpected expenses. You just never know. It’s up to you how much overage you prepare for.
• I recommend always having a healthy mini emergency fund that is designated for your renovation. Once a room is gutted, you really have no choice but to put it back and you need to be prepared to pay for unexpected repairs and expenses.
• Schedule your renovation from most to least important. If you are on a tight budget, it’s smart to do your “big win” renovations first. These are essential repairs, kitchen, and bathroom renovations for most homes. Then you can do your “nice to have” items next, like adding a new porch or adding a bunch of wallpaper.
• In my budgets, I always know which items I will cut from my plan if I begin to go over budget.
• As I alluded to above, there is a correlation between hiring experienced, reputable contractors and staying on budget. I would rather cringe at the price up front and stay on budget than go way over the bargain budget I was told. Reasonable quotes for the win!

I really enjoyed sharing this and I hope it helps some of you avoid some of the pitfalls and mistakes I made in the past. Ultimately, renovating is usually a challenging process with a big reward at the end.

Keep your chin up, keep your eye on the prize, and don’t beat yourself up over things you can’t control. It’s normal to feel completely burnt out near the end of a renovation, and in my experience it fades quickly as soon as you are completed.

What to see some of my renovation projects?

• How We Built a Hidden Room
• Green Living Room
• Entryway Tour
• Library Dining Room
• When an Open Floor Plan is Too Open
• My previous home tour

If you have any useful renovation tips, I’d love to hear them in the comments! Elsie

Plus, we are going to talk about the High Five Test.

You can find the podcast posts archive here.

A big thank you to our sponsors! Check out the offers from Modern Fertility, Bubs Naturals, Jenni Kayne, and Caraway.

And, if you’re looking for a specific code you heard on the podcast, you can see a full list on this page!

Show Notes

Why a 12-week goal is better:

-Long deadlines can feel very daunting and lead to procrastination.

-You can break up your goals into seasons so you do more work on them when you have more time and less when you are busier.

The important parts of the 12-week year:

-Making your vision (make sure it’s clear and measurable).

-Develop your plan (break up your goal into a series of small goals).

-Accountability and keeping score

-Checking in

Check out high5test.com

Elsie’s top 5 strengths:

-Catalyst
-Optimist
-Philomath
-Thinker
-Timekeeper

Emma’s top 5 strengths:

-Philomath
-Timekeeper
-Focus Expert
-Deliverer
-Thinker

Miss an Episode? Get Caught Up!

• Episode #172: Preparing For a Big Move!
• Episode #171: Elsie’s Moving Home to Missouri
• Episode #170: Twilight – Comfort Rewatch

Episode 173 Transcript:

Emma: You’re listening to The Beautiful Mess Podcast, your cozy comfort listen. This week we’re doing another deep dive into a topic that we’ve referenced many times on this show. It is the book, the 12 Week Year. So if you’re in the mood to talk about goal setting, this episode is for you. And we’re also gonna talk a little bit about the High Five test, which we’re gonna talk about our results, Elsie’s results, my results, and how you can take the test if you’re interested. 

Elsie: I’ll explain the overall concept of the 12 Week Year. So the 12 week year is a goal setting method that goes by quarter. So 12 weeks is one quarter, right? 

Emma: Yeah, it’s three months. 

Elsie: Yeah. So 12 weeks is every three months. The thing I love about this is when you set your goals just for the new year, the beginning of each year. First of all, it can be like a procrastination thing where you don’t have a super solid January, that kind of happens to me every year. You’re like, I didn’t really achieve my goal in January, so I guess I’m just not going to have a perfect year this year.

Emma: So I guess I’ll just wait, give up for next January.

Elsie: Right. So when you do it every three months, you just have four times the fresh starts, four times more fresh starts than you do once a year, which I love. And the other thing is that most goals that you want to achieve in a year, you actually could achieve or make major headway in just three months. You don’t really need a year for most goals, and even if you do need a year, you can at least do one part of your goal then do the next part. Section them off in your next quarter? I think that the 12th week year was really, really helpful for me, it’s just a mindset shift. And I love New Year’s goals personally. I’m not one of those people who’s like, I’m not a resolution person. I’m definitely a resolution person. I will always take a chance to set a goal. . But I think that this is just more practical and it works better. And the other thing that they do a lot in the 12 week year is habit tracking. So there’s a lot of journaling and a lot of like tracking of your progress. And that’s something that works really good for my personality because I kind of a little bit of a perfectionist thing where if I don’t do something every day, then I feel like that I’ve already failed. And being able to see that doing something three to five times a week is in some ways better because it’s like possible instead of impossible, and it’s just as good as doing something every day. I think that having standards that you can never achieve is probably one of the biggest enemies of success that many of us have. Yeah, I found the book. If you haven’t read it, I would definitely recommend it, but you can probably also just listen to this episode and take like the main high points from it because it’s pretty simple.

Emma: Yeah, it’s pretty simple. And it’s not a long book too. So the 12 week year has like a website where you can also sign up for a newsletter and I’ve signed up for it years and years ago. It’s kind of one of those newsletters where they’ll send like tips and tricks here and there or kind of like check-ins, things like that. So anyway, I like it. If I don’t have time, I don’t read ’em. But if I have time and I do read them, I usually find them like helpful. So anyway, if you have any interest in that, just so you know that’s available, it’s free. Okay. So I was just gonna go ahead and go over a few things that are kind of like the case for a short deadline , because that’s pretty much it. Is the 12 week years like, Hey, let’s have shorter deadlines instead of this year long deadline. Yes, and I think so many of these you kind of already hit on with your synopsis of the 12 week year, and I think that’s kind of interesting. So I’ll go through these kind of quickly, but feel free to elaborate if you want to, but yeah. Okay, so long deadlines can really just lead to a lot of procrastination. If you know you have a whole year to do something and maybe you don’t really need a year to do it, then you’ll end up procrastinating. So you end up being like, oh, I’ll get to it, and then come October you’re like, oh crap, I better really work on this goal because I’m all the way through the year and you could have just done it quickly and then moved on to your next thing. Also, I think long deadlines can sometimes mean that our priorities or our life really changes, and I don’t know about you, but that’s where I get really hung up, is if I’ve made a goal and then my life really does change and it makes more sense for me to change that goal. Sometimes I get it in my head that I’m giving up or I failed, or I’m making an excuse to not finish my goal when the truth is this goal just doesn’t serve me anymore because I made it six months ago and my life was different six months ago. 

Elsie: I have this problem really bad, being able to accept putting a pause button on goals has been very valuable for me. Before that, I really had the mindset that if I wasn’t doing everything right now, like if someone says, how’s your pottery going? Right now, I haven’t made pottery for more than a month, I would feel like panicked in like a failure. But now, that I have my pause button in place and I know that like we’re showing our house absolutely constantly and that’s why I can’t get my pottery stuff out as much as I wanted to, I was leaving it out for months at a time. It’s just not my productive season for that right now and it will be again in the future. There’s a lot of good mind stuff, more mindset stuff in this book, especially for people who can be like very hard on yourself or like an all or nothing personality.

Emma: Yeah, I think that it’s a lot of mindset changes and really positive ones generally. Because, yeah, there’s just a lot of guilt that can come into goal setting and I really think that is not helpful, so finding ways to get rid of that is really good. Okay, so another thing, long deadlines can also feel really daunting. So if you really do make a goal that’s gonna take you a year to accomplish it, it’s probably a really big goal. Unless you break it down into small goals, you’re probably gonna feel overwhelmed, and that might even lead to you giving up. So along those lines, I think long deadlines, when they’re done successfully, they really just are a series of short deadlines. If you’re your goal is, like Elsie loves pottery, I’m trying to write a book. So if I’m like, my goal is to write a book, it’s like, okay, well step one is like outline, step two, chapter one, you know, however many chapters, it’s a series of small goals along the way. And so I think the 12 week year in some ways is just an acknowledgement that in order to accomplish something big in a year or five years or whatever, you’re at the deadline. You’re just gonna have a bunch of small goals along the way, and so you might as well just think of it as, okay, well what’s my 12 week plan here because I got three months to do X, Y, Z. So this kind of ties into all of it, but I like quarterly goals in part because I think, and I especially think this for our work, there’s just different parts of the year. Maybe it’s because I live somewhere with the four Seasons, maybe it’s because I have a kid, and so like school and daycare can be different at different times and there’s holidays. I don’t know. But for me, I feel like I can really go crazy for work in Q1 and Q2 and then Q3 and q4 there’s, there is a lot of work, but there’s a lot more like family time and holidays and things like that. And I like being able to kind of think of things in that way. So then I don’t feel bad in let’s say q4, I’m not working quite as much cuz I have a lot of holiday stuff going if I kind of knew that and I really busted my in Q1 and q2, now I’m like, oh, I’m on track. You know, my goals in Q4 are not as career, they’re more family cleaning the house, getting ready for guests, whatever, they’re more in that range. And I can have that 12 weeks be something that makes sense for my year as opposed to this year long goal that has to encompass all these different seasons, and it almost doesn’t make sence.

Elsie: I think that in Q4 for our business, we kind of do have to go into survival mode every year because it’s usually when we do almost all of our ads, so you don’t get to pick your content as much as you do this time of year. Yeah, I completely agree, which is like ads and family stuff.

Emma: Yeah. You’re like, what’s do and what’s going on with my family? That’s all I have time for. You know, it’s fun, but it’s a certain season and I think if you’re expecting to do a lot of deep work for the future, you’re just not gonna get to do it that quarter, I never do. So anyway, that’s what Q1’s for. So those are kind of my case for the short deadline, so hopefully we’ve swayed you. I feel like we probably did. 

Elsie: I think everyone is swayed, I definitely am, I would never go back. I think that it’s very compelling. There’s really nothing that’s better about long deadlines. No, there’s really nothing.

Emma: No. Yeah, it’s a good method. I agree. 

Elsie: Case’s closed. 

Emma: Case’s closed, so everybody’s on board, good. Okay, so then I just wanted to talk about, to me the important parts of the 12 week year, some things he hits on in the book and things that can help you be successful as you’re making your goals for the next 12 weeks. Okay, so the first one is making your vision. How do you decide what to work on? How do you decide what goals you want? Okay, so I think some things that help is now that you know that you have 12 weeks you can be a little more realistic about what you can get done in 12 weeks. So you’re not necessarily going to be making a goal that’s like, I’m going to read 80 books and go to the gym a hundred times or whatever.You just know that that’s not gonna happen in 12 weeks. So now you can focus a little more on what’s realistic to happen in those 12 weeks. And I would also say as you’re making your vision, your goals, I like to do them in a bunch of different areas. So I like to kind of have different buckets of like, here’s my personal life, which includes like hobbies and self care. And sometimes also like health and wellness stuff, like going to the gym or whatever. Then I think of family, which is mostly stuff with my son, but it’s other things too. And I kind of put friends in there too, so if a friend’s having a birthday or if a friend’s going through a hard time, I wanna make time to be there for them or do something, and I think about career. So what am I trying to accomplish these next 12 weeks at work. Is there something that we’re building? Is there some kind of big deadline? Is there something that I’ve been wanting to start and finish? Or at least start, you know, again, you only have 12 weeks. So what are we getting done in these 12 weeks, that kind of. So I like to have different buckets that’s how I think about it. But something that I think is really important when you’re making goals is to make sure that it’s clear and measurable. I think if you’re like, okay, at the end of these 12 weeks, let’s say you’re working on some mental health stuff, you’ve had a hard time and you’re trying to work on that. Not that that’s necessarily me, exactly and I’m just using myself here’s an example, let’s just say. So if you make the goal, I just wanna feel better in 12 weeks. It’s like, well, Good goal not exactly very clear. Not exactly very measurable yet. What do you really mean by that? And if it’s like, well, I wanna feel better, I wanna have less days where I’m feeling really down. I want to feel more hopeful. So try to define it a little bit more, and then think about what are some things that you could measure in that because measuring a feeling is really hard, that would be very difficult. But instead think about like, I want to make sure I go to therapy every month. Okay, so then you’re gonna go to therapy three times in the next 12 weeks, okay? That’s measurable. Great, you could do that. I want to spend more time with friends. I want to get some sunshine. I want to work on endorphin stuff. So maybe that’s, I’m gonna do some cardio, I’m gonna go to the gym. I’m gonna start running whatever thing that you think is gonna help. This is your goals, but make them measurable things that you can actually know if you achieved it or not, if you did it or not. Because when you get to the end of the 12 weeks, you’re gonna take stock. You’re gonna say, oh, did I make it? Did I get all the things done? And it’s not that you’re trying to make this big to-do list and just go through the motions. But if things aren’t clear and measurable, then it might be really hard to know if your like, if you get to the end of the 12 weeks and you’re like, I don’t feel better, then you’re gonna wanna know why. So is it that you did all the things and those didn’t help and now you’ve gotta try something else? Or is it that you didn’t do the things, you got sidetracked, you got distracted, maybe something happened where you couldn’t, something major changed in your life, that happens. But if it things aren’t clear and measurable, then it’s gonna be really hard to know why it worked or didn’t work. Okay, so that’s kind of about making your vision. Then the next is once you kind of have your vision, develop your plan. So break up your goal into a series of small goals, so things for each month or even each week. And I think when you’re thinking about 12 weeks, this is so much easier than when you’re thinking about a whole year because sometimes I’ll make a giant list that’s for the whole year. Elsie and I do this a lot for blog posts, we’re like, here’s a thousand blog posts I wanna write because we just get excited about ideas. So we always have way too many ideas and I love to make a big list like that. I think it’s really fun, it makes me feel excited. It makes me feel like the future’s full of possibilities. So I think that’s a good exercise for those reasons. But it comes to actually executing, so this week for example, I’m sick. So I had one day where I was basically off cuz I was just really sick and couldn’t really work. So then it’s like, okay, I’m gonna look at my list and I now have these thousands of ideas and only four days to work, what could I get done? Whereas instead, if you had these five things to do this week, is there one that you need to take off the list because you were sick. Then you just get to keep moving forward and it just makes it a lot faster and easier to follow if you know where you’re going and then you can make quicker adjustments as opposed to this giant, giant master plan and you get a slightly off course and now you’re super off course.

Elsie: Yeah, I agree. I think this is a little bit of a good time to mention my post-it method. Oh by the way, Podcast listeners try to diagnose me with h ADHD kind of a lot. I’m like, I know that I probably have ADHD so lI get it. Probably a lot of people have undiagnosed ADHD. So if you have any trouble with focusing, I think the big list, like my blog post list for the year of what I wanna do, it’s stapled together, it’s three pages of typed text it like it is not something that I need to look at every week. So for me to look at a small list of about five things, like small enough to fit on a post-it is what my brain can handle and then I can choose something to actually work on. So I think that if you’re a person who gets easily overwhelmed by a long list, just don’t look at the long list that often. Every few weeks you can go in and pick some things from it and keep yourself on a small list. I think it’s just a trick you can do on yourself that really works. 

Emma: Yes, I agree and I think too, it just makes it where everybody’s busy. We all have limitations in our life, no matter for what reason. And I think that for example, when I’m writing a book, once I have the outline, I immediately feel way less overwhelmed because if I have two and a half to three hours where I can work on this today, that’s all I have. I’m not gonna get to work on it more maybe this whole week,but then I look at my outline and I’m like, oh, chapter four I feel like I really have a handle on that. I’m gonna write that right now, and I do it and then it’s done. And it’s like that is something that now just moved my whole project forward in a meaningful way. Did I finish the whole book? No, but did I write a chapter? Yes I did in the time that I have. And so, and that’s, , you know, sort of it is like trying to break down these big things that we wanna do in life into smaller bite size things so that we can actually get them done. Because life is full of lots of other things that are never gonna be on our list, but we still have to do them, and that’s just what life’s like and it’s okay. Okay, so develop your plan and that will help, break down your goal into very small goals. They can be weekly, monthly, they can even be daily. I would say too, don’t feel like they have to be so rigid because I think if you do have a very, like every single day this must happen. That doesn’t leave you much space for getting sick, or if your kid gets sick or you have a snow day or the internet goes out at your house and you can’t work on the thing you were gonna work on. You have to leave some margin to let life happen, or you’re really gonna stress yourself out, so do that too. 

Elsie: Yeah, focus on the big wins for sure. As long as I can get this part of my list done, then the rest of it is optional. I think is a good way to think of it. 

Emma: Okay, and then the next thing I wanna talk about I think varies so much from person to person. So it is accountability and keeping score. So this is something he talks about in the book and there’s lots of different ways to do it. And I also think it really depends on you and what works for you. So the whole point is to have mechanisms in place to help keep yourself on track. Some people are very internally motivated or externally motivated, or maybe they call it intrinsically motivated, I’m not sure. But I’m a person where I don’t really need a lot of outside accountability. I’m very much like on the inside, if I’ve decided I wanna do something that’s it for me, that’s enough. I do need ways to keep myself on track. For example, my husband, he has a friend who he always goes to the gym with. It’s not that he never goes to the gym by himself, he does, but it helps him a lot to have this friend who he goes with. It’s just sort of an accountability thing. It just means that he knows his friends there. If so, if he’s not there then he’s kind of letting him down or that’s probably too harsh of a wording, but you know, something along those lines. Whereas me, I was trying to get back into the gym this year for my mental health reasons, and so I was considering joining this new gym where all my friends go. I went once and it was really fun to see everyone. It kind of dawned on me thatI’m just not very externally motivated. I’m a very internal, intrinsically motivated person, so I actually don’t really need someone there. I just need to have it in my mind that this is important to me and I need to have bought into the reason why, and for me that’s good enough. And once I have that, then I just have to kind of have my mechanisms to keep myself on track. For me, I’m a little bit more of a reward system person. I think you’re like this too, Elsie. I like to have a little reward at the end of a big goal, like once I achieve it then I’m like, oh, I’m buying myself this probably new jumpsuit or whatever it is. I’m doing something, I’m taking myself out to get my nails done, whatever. I’m a little more of a rewards person and I like to set those for myself. But yeah, you might be a person who you really like to work with others, maybe you like working on teams. Maybe you need an accountability partner for certain goals. Those are great tools and if that’s something that helps you, you should do it. But they’re not necessarily for me and I don’t really think they are for you either,Elise. That’s why we thrive so much at working alone and being alone a lot, but I do like reward systems. 

Elsie: I like rewards too and for me I think you’re a natural finisher and I am not. So for me, I like to find something to help me get past the part where I failed before, which is usually, depending on what type of project, it’s usually the middle or around like day 10 when things get boring. The point where things get boring, all of the novelty is worn off is usually hard for me to get past. I’m very into starting something. In my life I’ve probably started hundreds of things that I did for one day, which is really funny. So, starting is like my happiest point and then the rest of it I have to keep myself somehow externally motivated. A rewards system is really good for me. I think that I don’t wanna rely on other people because that is just not realistic for my lifestyle. So I think I like the little rewards. Also, the other thing I really like is charts where you color in something for either each day or each milestone, however the chart goes. But I really like the coloring in charts are very helpful for me because once you get to a certain point, it’s like a little bit addictive to keep going and just like get to that completely full point. But yeah, I think that the thing I liked from the 12 year was the part about rating yourself. I think it’s a little weird, but I have done it before and I feel like I am usually a little bit harsh. But it doesn’t really matter if you’re harsh or generous, as long as you’re consistent, kind of doesn’t matter. It’s just a way to keep yourself trying to do better. And I do think that having your own accountability is so much better than trying to get someone else to hold you accountable. I’ve never found another person holding me accountable to be as effective and consistent as something I could do myself.

Emma: I also think like I just have a real, I don’t know a good way to say this, but I don’t really care what other people think that much, if I care what you think, then I do and if I don’t, I don’t. That’s just what I’ve always been like. And I think at times in my life that served me really well and at other times in my life, it’s made it where I’ve been kind of isolated. But it’s just what I’m like. It doesn’t motivate for me because if I’ve decided that’s no longer my goal and my accountability partner or whatever was like we’re still doing this. I’d be like, no, I’m not and I’m just like not motivated by outside forces. But on the rating thing, I think it’s a little weird too, but one thing I like about it is I do think it allows more. I prefer a class that is like, you can get an A or you can get an F and everything in between. I think pass fail is kind of nerve-wracking a little bit. So I like that in, at least in my world, and rating myself, I can give myself like a solid B minus and be like, Hey, it’s not so bad, but you could do better, I like that. So then it feels like you’re not a failure. You didn’t fail, but you could do a little better. You didn’t get an A and I, I like that because then it’s like, all right, I’m gonna keep trying, I’m not gonna give up on this. But I see that there’s some areas where I can improve somewhat. So I like things that have a lot of scale or a lot of gray. I don’t do as well in like black and white situations, I guess. And then really the last thing that I wanted to talk about with 12 week year was a check-in, the check-in time, which is week 13, so at the end of your 12 weeks, it’s time to check in. So a couple things to think about with that. Obviously, It’s good to just take time at the end of this timeframe or any sort of goal setting thing to see how you did to rate yourself to just check in because I think a lot of times, at least for me, maybe this comes natural for others, but for me, I’m a very forward moving person. I feel like I can finish something and I don’t even really talk about it, and it doesn’t even really register and I’ll just keep moving to the next goal. And then I’ll see a friend who I haven’t seen in a couple months and they can be like, Hey, did you finish writing that novel you were working on? And I’m like, oh yeah, I did. Yeah, that was fun, I’m working on this now. That’s what I’m like sometimes and I think it’s cool that you have a lot of goals in life, but you didn’t really take any time to, one, celebrate if you have success, so do that, don’t make that mistake. Celebrate when you have successes, because that’s what life should be full of is getting better and better at goal setting, at whatever it is that you’re wanting to do with your time. So other than celebrating your successes, I also think checking in is a good time, especially if you’re new to the 12 week year to just kind of seeing how it went. Because here’s the thing, you might get to the end of 12 weeks and realize, wow, I made way too big of goals, so I epically failed did not get them done, and not because I didn’t try really hard but because they were too big, they were too much for 12 weeks, and that’s okay, you don’t need to feel bad about that. You just need to adjust for the next 12 weeks. You need to be more realistic and you could also get to the end of your 12 weeks and be like, that was kind of easy. I was kind of done six weeks through and it’s like you could do more. You could add more to your 12 week, to your quarter goal list because yours were too easy and that’s okay too but now it’s time to readjust. As long as you’re taking stock of how the last quarter went, you’re gonna be able to better make goals for the next 12 weeks. And you can also kind of see how did life change? How did you know my goals change or anything like that. I also had this moment, so this happened to me in January of this year I got to the end of the month and I was feeling really down because I had been really sick. I was sick for like two solid weeks. I have a toddler, so I’m sick lot, just sort of part of it. It’s winter, we also had some snow days, which was really fun, but it kind of got me off of some of my goals of getting to the gym and walking more for my mental health. But what I did was I was feeling really down and then I kind of looked at my to-do list that I keep up on my bulletin board in my office and it has all my work stuff and I also put my personal things on there, just because I have it all in one place and it’s bigger than a post-it like Elsie was talking about but it’s small enough that I can look at it and one quick look and so I like that it keeps me on track and I highlight it, so that’s my coloring way of seeing what I got. .And so I was looking at it and I realized that like 90% of it was highlighted. Like I still got a lot done in January, even though I felt really crappy and I was really sick and I had a lot more days off than I was kind of planning on because we had snow days. But I realized like, Hey, actually I’m glad I’m taking this moment to take stock, because actually this month went really well. I got a lot done when I had time to work, I really busted out and when I didn’t get to work because I was sick or we had a snow day, I rested or I played with my son cuz he was home and that was cool too, that was necessary, the resting. Playing with your son’s more fun than necessary, it’s not the word I would use, it’s way more fun than necessary. It’s also necessary, but it’s not same. 

Elsie: It’s part of life right now, for sure. 

Emma: The number of times I have watched the cars movies this month is too many times, but love you Lightning McQueen. Anyway, so I think sometimes having this check-in time, if nothing else, it can kind of force you to realize that you did a better job than maybe you were thinking, or at least that’s what I notice happens for me a lot is I think I have these grand ideas and I actually get a lot done, but it doesn’t always feel so great in the moment. So when you have these times where you let yourself check in, maybe you do need to adjust. Maybe things went terribly and you need to make some adjustments, but maybe also things are better than you think and you’re just kind of hard on yourself, which is what I do.

Elsie: My first month went terribly. Yeah, you do need to adjust.

Emma: That’s okay, that’s fine too. It’s not the end of the world to adjust. Anything else? Any other thoughts you wanted to share about the 12 week year? 

Elsie: Yeah. I think when you don’t make your goals, I would say I don’t make my goals like most of the time, and I think that’s normal, especially when a lot of the goals are something big that you’ve never done before or you have a tendency of putting too many on each list. So I think for the next time, if you are a goal repeater like me, where you’re like, I didn’t make that, but I’m gonna try again. Then I think making some type of edit to try to address the pain point. So for myself, my pain point is usually it’s hard to get started or it’s hard to keep going once it gets boring, which are both different but it’s gonna happen over and over and over for the rest of my life because you only get one brain. So I think finding little ways to motivate yourself past your pain points, I think can be really smart when. You’re probably gonna have a lot of the same goals, like over and over throughout your years or similar at least. So it’s something you can definitely get better at, like tricking your own brain and putting yourself in your best possible position for success. I think that whatever you have to do for me, the little rewards are good, the little charts, but do whatever you have to do to give yourself that best possible chance.

Emma: I think that should be a T-shirt, you only get one brain. 

Elsie: It’s true. There’s so many times I compare myself to Emma because Emma is like a finisher at all costs. She finishes everything and I don’t finish probably like a 10th of the things that you do, but I don’t have a chance to live life with your brain. So, it’s like it doesn’t really matter, it’s a complete waste of time basically to compare myself to someone who has different methods. So the only methods that I can improve upon are the ones that work for me. So yeah, I think just find the things that motivate you and really use those methods.

Emma: Yeah, I do think there’s not a lot of value in comparing yourself generally, but comparing your brain since we’re on that topic to other people because it’s like you’re not gonna be that person and probably, there’s actually a lot of strengths to being yourself. There’s tons of things that I wish I was like, you more, but I’m not and I’m not gonna be, so I can just admire them about you and I will just value the things about me. Which I do think one of my things is I do like to finish things and I like that about myself. There’s other times I wish I was a little more of a perfectionist, but I’m not and there’s no chance of it. So I just have to know that about myself and just force myself to slow down. Or redo something if it needs to be redone and be more honest about that. Because I’m just not a perfectionist and I think that that’s okay, but it can hold back my work from being better than I think it could be at times. So anyway. Yep, we are who we are. Accept it and grow. 

Elsie: For sure. I think you really have to embrace what your natural strengths and weaknesses are, and then use this to get a little bit more done. But I felt like it made a big difference for me. I love the chance to have more fresh starts and yeah, I really don’t see why starting a big goal only every January, it doesn’t even make sense because January is not even the best month. It’s definitely not my prime for like anything. And it’s like also for people like us with little kids, it’s like you’re recovering from the hangover of putting on a magical holiday for your kids. Which is a lot if your home a lot. 

Emma: I think too, like most people I think, identify with this like the beginning part of any project and the goal setting time is really fun. It’s exciting cuz it’s the dreaming part, like you’re dreaming of all these things you wanna do and so you get to do that four times a year instead of just one time a year if you do the 12 week year. And that’s, I think, more fun. It’s three times as fun, it’s way more fun. Okay, so I think that’s about it on that. The next thing I wanted to talk about was the high five test. So if people haven’t heard of this maybe just tell ’em like how you heard of it, because you sent it to me, you were like, take this test, I was like, okay. So how did you even hear about it? It’s kind of like strength finder, but it’s not, I don’t know. 

Elsie: So a listener requested that we do like strength finder test and I found this test just by Googling free strength finder test. What is the actual website? 

Emma: It is high five test.com.

Elsie: And it was with a number five, high number five. test.com. Okay, so we did this, these tests, it is free. I could not get my husband to do it, but I got Emma to do it. So , that was half of a win. It gives you a top five strengths and Emma and I had like several of the same strengths which I was not expecting, but then it did make a lot of sense. And then the ones that are different also make a lot of sense. So anyway, should we read what our strengths were? My top one is Catalyst, my second one is Optimist, my third is Filo Math, which means someone who likes to learn. The next one is Thinker, and the last one is timekeeper. This was really interesting, I was not surprised that I had optimist up really high. I do think that’s one of my strengths and my whole key to success of my whole life is like believing you know, like the girl from TikTok who says, How hard can it be syndrome, I kind of have that and I’ve always felt that I could do anything that I want to do in life. And I think it’s a way my brain was born. And then a love of learning I definitely think that’s something we share. That one’s on your list too, right? Yeah. F 

Emma: Yeah Filo math was my number one.

Elsie: Were there any other ones that we were sharing? Thinker? That makes sense too and then timekeeper. This one was interesting because it said that I basically liked to race myself, which is true. My only way of getting things done, it’s almost like a little kid when you set the timer for them to clean their room, that is still how I am to this day about any goal. If I’m not on an aggressive deadline, I’m probably not even working on it. So that’s like my whole method.

Emma: I was filo math, timekeeper, focus expert, deliverer, and thinker. Focus. 

Elsie: Focus Expert is like the perfect way to describe you because I don’t think very many people would relate with how well you focus because you just like don’t get on your phone. You just don’t have a distractable brain the way that most people do. 

Emma: Well, I don’t know if that’s wholly true. I definitely get on my phone sometimes. But Yeah, I do think one of my strengths is I can focus on things. I always chalk it up to that we had to sit through so many boring sermons growing up, and I just got really good at focusing during anything. 

Elsie: We were trained in high school, during our church years, we were trained to be note takers during the sermons that was like basically the way that you show that you’re being polite and listening and I do think that was an extremely good habit of learning how to get the most out. Sermons are at least in our church, were extremely boring. I think we got the most out of it that we could, at least you can remember, like something from what your favorite part was and things like that. 

Emma: Yeah, mine also was love of learning.

Elsie: Wait, read them again. 

Emma: Basically do filo math, which again, I don’t know how to pronounce that either. That’s what I’m gonna go with filo Math, timekeeper, focus expert, deliverer and thinker and I think deliverer was not on your list. 

Elsie: Deliverer, I think this is why we’re such a good team together because I have like the catalyst and the optimist that are different and you have deliverer and focus expert that are different and I think that that’s like a lot to offer each other. 

Emma: Yeah. So I think you’re like, how hard can it be? And I’m like, well, I guess we’ll just finish

Elsie: I love it. Yeah, I hope that some of you take it. I think it was extremely accurate and interesting. I’m gonna push my husband again to take it because I just wanna understand that little brain. I wish I could push, mine’s a screenshot, so I can’t push on what catalyst means. I wish I could read what it meant, maybe I’ll look it up real fast. It means you cannot wait to start your project, you start it right away, you love starting. That sounds right. 

Emma: You love starting and I love finishing, so we’re a great team. I also thought it was funny. So it kind of has four different strength families and your things can be in any of these four families and the families are thinking, doing, feeling, and motivating and all of mine are in the thinking and doing. So I have no strengths in feeling or motivating, so if you want someone who can motivate you, I am not that person. And if you want someone who has a lot of feelings, I guess I’m not that person either. I don’t know. Obviously I do have a lot of feelings, but I don’t know I just thought that was kind of funny. I do think when I’m working or when I’m trying to accomplish, which doesn’t have to be work related like career, it could be whatever. I do think I’m very, let’s do things like I have a list. Even in being a mom, it’s not that I don’t tell Oscar how much I love him or how proud I am of him, I tell him every single day how proud I am of him. But I also think very much in terms of, okay, it’s Saturday, what are we going to do? We’re going to go get a donut. Don think that’s what we’re going to do.

Elsie: I don’t think that’s what it means though, I don’t think it means that you’re not an emotive person.I will stop in the middle of a project just to cry and you don’t do that. You know what I mean? 

Emma: Yeah. I mean, I might honestly, but I think it’s more of, how do you. I don’t know how to explain this. How do you like go through life? Because to me, it’s not that I don’t emote or have feelings on things, I just don’t think in terms of my feelings as far as like, what am I going to accomplish this weekend? Or what is my life about? I don’t really think in terms of feelings or I think of it more in what I’m gonna do and accomplish. I don’t know, but I think a lot of people do that, so I’m not really sure. I just thought it was funny that all of mine were very concentrated. I’d like to meet a person who has one strength in each of the four families, and they’re this like perfectly balanced person, but probably that’s not really even how it works. 

Elsie: Yeah, mine has four colors. 

Emma: Oh, you’re a balanced person then. 

Elsie: But I don’t feel balanced either. I don’t feel more balanced than you.

Emma: Mine is like all two colors, none of the other two . 

Elsie: Well, I’m grateful for your strengths and I think it’s sort of like Enneagram or anything. It’s just like good to know. So that you can understand other people better. So I think it’s very helpful. 

Emma: Yes, I like anything that helps you understand yourself or the world better. I don’t really like things that put us in boxes. I like to make jokes about being a certain way or whatever, but to me that’s just me being a little bit self-deprecating for fun. I actually don’t really view it that way, I think it’s just a tool for self improve because I don’t have strengths in those other two areas, I can’t be that way. I don’t actually believe that. I like to say a joke about it but that’s not actually my belief. 

Elsie: Yeah. No, I don’t either. I just know I don’t take joy in finishing, but I still know that I can, and I think that that’s just the only difference. It’s like, for sure I can do it, you know?

Emma: Yeah. How hard can it be? Like it’s hard, isn’t that what Elwood says? Yeah. I got into Harvard, like it’s hard. 

Elsie: Yeah. I wanna watch Legally Blonde, let’s do that movie. 

Emma: Yeah, we should do that for a week we watch. It’s a good one. 

Elsie: Okay, now it is time for everyone’s favorite, a joker a fact with Nova. Here’s Nova. 

Nova: A joke is, what is a polar bear in the rain? A drizzly bear? 

Elsie: Oh, I like that one. That’s a good joke. Okay, thanks Nova. 

Nova: Bye everyone. 

Emma: Thank you so much for listening, we truly, deeply appreciate all of you and all the emails that you send us every single week. If you wanna support A Beautiful Mess here are two free ways, I like to just give these at the ends of episodes. Number one, you could leave us a podcast review, it really does help us grow. They show up in the Apple areas or wherever you listen to podcasts, so it means a lot and two on our blog, either a Beautiful Mess or Childhood Magic. Anytime you see a recipe, if you could leave a five star review, assuming that you’ve done it and you know that it’s good, that also is a way that helps us grow and helps our blogs grow. So those are just two free things you can do and we would appreciate them. And if you do neither, that’s okay too. We still love you and we hope that you have a great week.

Elsie: I see all those reviews though, and I know that they’re from our podcast, listeners. So thank you so much.We’ll be back next week with a, you’ve got mail rewatch, so if you want to give yourself a little treat this week in preparation, there is your warning.

Patina is when a green or brown film appears on the surface of metals like copper, brass, or silver. When copper patinas, it can naturally become darker or spotted, and in some cases it can develop a beautiful turquoise patina.

Many people embrace the natural patina of copper, but what if you want to restore it to its original shining finish? There are many ways to clean copper, bringing it back to its former glory.

In this post, I will show examples of many of the most popular cleaning solutions for copper, including vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda, ketchup, and cleaners like Bar Keepers Friend.

You will be able to see the results and choose which one is best for you and hopefully find a solution to use with ingredients you already have at home.

Before beginning my tests, I assumed that the chemical-based cleaner would perform the best—but I was shocked by the results and will never go back!

Related posts: How to Clean Brass, How to Clean a Cast Iron Skillet, How to Clean Makeup Brushes, Clean Your Whole House in 15 Minutes.

Cleaning Copper Pots with Vinegar

In a cup, mix 2 tablespoons salt, 2 tablespoons flour and enough white vinegar to create a paste.

Use a spoon or your finger to spread the paste over the copper surface you want to clean. Use a wet cloth to rub it off and rinse with water when you are done.

As you can see below, the results of this method are amazing. As soon as I applied the paste, the color began to change instantly. For dark spots, do a second application and allow it to sit a few minutes before wiping off.

My review of this method is a 10/10 because these are ingredients I always have on hand, the results were great and I was able to avoid any harsh chemicals. If you have these ingredients, this is the first method I would recommend trying!

Cleaning Copper with Lemon Juice and Baking Soda

The next method I wanted to try is lemon juice with baking soda. I was very optimistic about this method because the ingredients have worked great for me in other cleaning contexts.

The results, however, were pretty disappointing. You can see in the second image that the baking soda makes a big bubble mess (be sure to do this in a sink). I mixed equal parts fresh lemon juice and baking soda.

Once the bubbles settled, the mixture was very watery, so I tried pouring it directly on the surface and rubbing it on using a paper towel.

I would rate this method a 4/10. You can see that it did make some color change on the surface of the copper, but it did not clean deeply the way the vinegar versions did.

I would only recommend this method if you don’t have any of the other ingredients on hand.

Cleaning Copper with Ketchup

I tried cleaning copper with ketchup. I had seen this done before, so I assumed it would work. But I was curious how it would compare to the vinegar method.

I squirted some ketchup directly onto the copper and spread it on the surface with my finger. I let it sit on the copper for a full minute before scrubbing it with a cloth and rinsing it.

This method worked great! If you want a slightly more subtle cleaning that leaves more patina texture, I would recommend it. It is not as powerful as the vinegar method, but it works really well.

I also love that ketchup is an easy ingredient to find and many of us already have it on hand! 8/10

Cleaning Copper with Bar Keepers Friend

I have used Bar Keepers Friend many times in the past to clean my copper pots. They make a liquid and a powder version, which is useful for different things. I like that it is effective and fast.

I don’t love that it has harmful ingredients and is not safe to keep around a kid-friendly house. It’s important to use gloves while cleaning with Bar Keepers Friend.

Before trying these other methods, I fully expected Bar Keepers Friend to be the clear winner. After doing this test, I can honestly say that the vinegar mixture works just as well for cleaning copper.

So while Bar Keepers Friend is fully effective, you have to be sure to wear gloves and keep it stored safely away from small children. It cleans equally well, but is more toxic, so I give it a 7/10.

One last good thing about Bar Keepers friend is that it cleans many different types of surfaces. I actually use it to remove small stains from my quartz countertops.

I hope this post has provided you with more than one good option for cleaning your copper at home. Let us know in the comments if you have a method that has worked well for you!

More posts you may enjoy: Homemade Shower Cleaning Spray, Organize Your Home Room by Room, 20+ Ways to Keep Your Home Organized.