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Our homes are made up of lots of working parts — bedrooms, redecorated kitchens, upgraded baths, ogle-worthy renos, ticks and tricks for cleaning and organizing, and real home tours all live here to represent the spaces of your Offbeat Home.

Comparing buying vs. renting? Your state's "breakeven horizon" might be key

Comparing buying vs. renting? Your state’s “breakeven horizon” might be key

These days most of us aren’t in a position to buy a home in our state. It’s all that avocado toast, I tell ya! But if you ARE in a position to consider it, there’s this metric called the breakeven horizon that will help you decide if it’s financially better to buy than to rent.

And it varies widely from state to state…

House fire preparation: 7 things to do to safeguard your stuff in case of a house fire

7 things to do to safeguard your stuff in case of a house fire

In October 2017, my garage caught on fire. It’s all been a truly awful experience, and there’s been a steep learning curve for us.

Here are a few house fire preparation things that you can do right now to make sure that, if you face a catastrophic loss, you end up with the best of a bad situation…

furniture for small spaces

Ultra useful furniture for small apartments to help you save room in your small space

If you’re like me, you might be living in a small apartment. It seems to be a big trend since a lot of us aren’t in a position to buy a big ol’ house. But fear not! Small space living solutions are, ironically, HUGE right now.

I decided to go hunting for some ultra useful furniture for small apartments to help you save room in your small space. I’m talking storage solutions on walls, desks, tables, and beds that fold and become multi-use when you need it, and tiny decor items that take up no extra room (because you still want the place to look fun!).

No drama with this llama: llama & alpaca home gifts for the camelid fan in your life

No drama with this llama: alpaca & llama home gifts for the camelid fan in your life

In what HAS to be in the running for cutest roundup of home stuff ever, get ready to find the best alpaca and llama home gifts ever. Your camelid-loving pals (or you!) will go totally apeshit for these wild and (very) woolly finds. From llama tea strainers and lunch totes to cookie cutters and desktop dusters, there’s an alpaca or llama item for every flavor of friend.

Get your epic cuteness on…

Harry Potter decor

Merlin’s pants! This incredible Harry Potter decor wins the House Cup

Sometimes I have dreams of recreating Hogwarts in my own home and finally get that admissions owl I somehow missed at age eleven. Then you see what Jasper Price and his wife Angie have done to recreate the Hogwarts common room and realize that you’re out of your quidditch league. They’ve amassed the most mystical of Harry Potter decor collections (Mrs. Norris lookalike included!) and turned their home into the wizarding world of our dizziest daydreams.

Spinning BB-8 heels tutorial

May the Fourth be with these spinning BB-8 heels (with a tutorial!)

It’s that time of the galactic year again: May the Fourth be with you! Sure, you’re probably already inundated with merch from the new Star Wars rebooted universe, but this DIY tutorial HAD to be shared. Why? Because it’s for spinning BB-8 heels. Seriously, the heels are BB-8 from Star Wars: The Force Awakens and they SPIN.

Kid's room decor (that you can totally use on your adult walls!)

The sweetest whimsical nursery decor (that you can totally use on your adult walls!)

Are you ever shopping online for that perfectly saccharine, pastel, animal-themed, or just plain sweet art for your walls and end up in the whimsical nursery decor section? Yeah, yeah, these prints are mostly for kid’s rooms, but who says you can’t rock that pastel unicorn, dapper sloth, and sparkly constellation illo on your own adult walls? YOU DO YOU. And I’m going to do me by snagging that bespectacled tabby who is clearly my patronus.

On to stealing art from the children (or putting it on the kids’ walls, too!)…

cool wall stencils

Your walls and floors will never be the same once they meet these funky & fun wall stencils

Wallpaper is making a comeback big time, wall decals are hot, but my favorite way to make a surface my own is with stencils. You can use any paint color combinations you want, layer stencils on top of other stencils, and have total control over the placement of the imagery. Win! Have you investigated the sheer amount of wall stencils you can nab online? Use ’em on the walls, on the floor (for a faux tile look or in place of a carpet!), or on a big piece of wood or canvas as artwork.

Here are a few of my fave funky and chic wall stencils to try out on your big blank walls and floors…