Bank of Ireland offering 2% back to mortgage customers

Bank of Ireland has upped the ante in the battle for new mortgages by doubling the cash it will give to first-time buyers and movers who take out a home loan with them.

The bank is offering 2% of the value of the mortgage, with no strings attached.

This amounts to €8,000 for a €400,000 mortgage, with the offer also applying to buy-to-lets. You must draw down the mortgage by the end of this year in order to avail of the offer.

The post Bank of Ireland offering 2% back to mortgage customers appeared first on MyHome.ie Advice & Blog.

Castlemartyr Resort on the market for €13 million

The five-star Castlemartyr Resort in Co Cork has gone on the market.

Savills estate agents are asking €13 million for the hotel, which was visited by Kim Kardashian and Kanye West on their honeymoon.

Situated in the picturesque village of Castlemartyr, the hotel is one of Ireland’s fanciest and is well-known for attracting high-profile guests, including Bruce Springsteen and Bill Clinton.

The hotel, which sits on 210 acres of land, incorporates a historic 18th century manor house and lies adjacent to a 13th century castle originally built by the Knights Templar under Richard Earl de Clare, better known as Strongbow.

The hotel opened in 2007 with 103 bedrooms, including 32 suites and manor state rooms, a spa and health club including a 20 metre swimming pool, 10 treatment rooms, steam room, sauna, water features and a private treatment suite with infinity pool and sauna.

The resort also features an 18-hole inland links golf course designed by Ron Kirby.

The resort has four restaurants and is a wedding destination with a 220-person suite.

The sale includes 19 Golf Lodges and a Mews house.

Estate agents Savills say it is being sold as a going concern and there will be no interruption to business or events booked.

Available in a separate lot to the resort, are nine gate lodges located at the resort entrance. Known as Linn Corr, this lot is priced at €1 million.

Check out the resort on MyHome.ie here.

The post Castlemartyr Resort on the market for €13 million appeared first on MyHome.ie Advice & Blog.

UHeart Organizing: A Summer Ready Mudroom

Seasonal changes are always welcomed, but I tend to get most excited for the arrival of spring and summer (hello warm weather and pretty lawns!). Not only does the climate change significantly each season, but our lifestyle changes seasonally as well. How we utilize our home and our systems are all impacted by the type of weather and activities that correlate with specific times of the year. With the first day of summer right around the corner, are you prepared for trips to the beach, parks, the longer days and sporting events? I know I had to get our baseball bleacher bag all stocked up again a few weeks ago.

Megan, of Honey We're Home, is also getting into the summer swing of things. Although I think she has one of the most amazing mudrooms in all the land, I really appreciate that her tips can inspire and work for anyone (mudroom or no mudroom). Here she is now to share how she has made a summer-ready home.

Hi friends! It's happy summertime over here since our 5 year-old just got out of school for the summer. He'll be starting kindergarten next year and he told me that he's ready, having worked so hard in Pre-K4! I swear, these times with our kiddos are so precious and I seriously want to bottle this current age.

We don't have any major summer vacations or trips planned this year, but in Houston it is super hot and humid, so we will be making multiple trips to the local swimming pool. Having everything ready to go in a portion of our mudroom makes impromptu pool trips easy. Welcome to our hardworking summer mudroom!

The light blue door shown above leads to my garage, so bags and pool supplies are appropriately stored here for quick grab and go. Everything from our insulated picnic basket, towels, sunscreen, koozies, and pool toys are kept in the upper cabinets.

In the cubbies below, we store flip flops in a woven basket that I picked up at Target.

This giant pool bag is too big to use as an everyday tote, but for the pool, it works perfectly. I picked it up at a local holiday fair last year and this year I'll have to pick up a few as gifts. It would be super cute with a monogram too. I keep sunscreen, an extra pair of sunglasses, my son's goggles, a hat for us both, and a few squirt guns in there at all times so they're never forgotten. Other things like towels, change of clothes, snacks, floaties, and magazines can be piled in too and still fit.

The key to keeping our shelves organized is not having too much stuff. As much as I'd love to buy new colorful beach towels, the ones we have suffice, especially since our pool supplies towels. We mainly take these towels (that we've had for years) to the beach or use them in our own backyard.

And my son likes to bring his own cartoon towel to the pool, so we do bring one of those for him.

My label-loving self had to create a couple cute tags for the sunscreen and koozies, but it was easy with my label maker and pre-cut tags from my craft store.

This summer, my son is signed up at a few different day camps that he can go to each week (although he doesn't have to go if we decide to stay home). He'll also resume swimming lessons since he still needs help becoming a stronger swimmer. We'll be starting with an everyday for two-weeks class to give him the most exposure and water time.

To keep track of these summer activities, I made a sign in PicMonkey (free online photo/design editing tool) with clip art and fun fonts. You can see more of how I use PicMonkey here if you need a tutorial. I also printed out our Summer Fun Bucket List that we created last year. It was awesome to see that James can actually read the list now! He has worked hard in PK4!

My trusty laminator will help keep the pages from tearing.

I originally planned to hang these signs inside the cabinet doors, but our doors are so high, they would've been hard to read. I opted to place them on the wall near the door and figured keeping them at my son's height is more appropriate anyway.

Washi tape is practical for hanging since it won't take the paint off the wall, but also adds a fun pop of color to the space!

I think we are off to a great start to our summer! I hope you have a lovely summer too! Big thank you to Jen and all her sweet readers for letting me stop by and share our summer mudroom with you!

______________________

"My name is Megan and I am a lawyer by day, design and decor lover by night, and Mama to the sweetest 5-year old boy you've ever seen. I'm passionate about fitness (and chocolate!) and could not live without my relationships, girl talk, and my morning coffee. I've been blogging for four years over at Honey We're Home, sharing my love of keeping things organized and beautiful at our house. My efforts to live in the moment and cook more are an adventure in progress."

Baby Shower

In our end of the school year madness (still mid-madness btw!) I forgot to share pictures of the baby shower I had at my house for my sweet friend a couple of weeks ago! I didn’t do much to decorate – my friends and I decided to keep it simple, but I found this adorable […]

The post Baby Shower appeared first on The Sunny Side Up Blog.

Four Week "Wait-No-More" Organizing Challenge!

I have come to a point where I need to take back our home. And I keep trying to figure out how to get to the meat of this post without it sounding like we are:

• Slobs
• Lazy
• Whining
• Lame
• Un-motivated

When it fact, that really has never been our style. Although we will forever have problem spaces lingering, we have always prided ourselves on our ability to stay on top of our home. Whether it be with cleaning plans or meal plans or organized kits and caddies galore, our systems have been years in the making. Our goal is not perfection; our friends, family and neighbors have definitely seen our home in a tornado-esque state... We just love to find ways to make our routines easier (and our home prettier).

But wow. Over the course of the last five months and being knee deep in a home renovation, we have somehow lost our way. It is amazing how quickly we can fall out of our routines, create piles, and let our daily chores slide. And not having storage in the main areas of our home for many months, has had a trickle effect to almost every other room in our home. The moment we took down our wall and tore apart our kitchen, not only did we remove a few systems that we heavily relied on, we also shifted our priorities. Suddenly everything else could wait and getting our kitchen / living room finished was more important. It feels as though we are always focusing on some sort of project or running here and there. And when we have a few spare seconds, we want to spend them with the boys, not cleaning or doing more house chores. Always a balancing act right?

Well, it has gotten to a point that the kids have forgotten what their daily responsibilities are and I can't seem to focus on a single thing due to all of the chaos going on around me. I have always been one to thrive when my surroundings are clean and clutter free, so as the months have gone by, my drive has slowed down. I am totally, completely overwhelmed with our home. There, I said it. I already feel better. Say it with me? Just saying it is the first step.

I decided that I don't care that the kitchen still needs trim and the spices need to be labeled. The rest of the house needs my attention. It is time to take back control of a few spaces that have been controlling us, and our moods. I am not waiting any longer!

For the next four weeks, I am going to tackle our top four trouble areas. And I am not talking about the garage, which definitely has seen better days, I am talking about the spaces we use all of the time and have a real impact on our days.

Will you play along with me? Do you have an organizing project you have been putting off? Are you in an organizing slump? (cough, Courtney, cough)

Although I typically look for some sort of motivator when it comes to organizing a drawer, closet or entire room... this time, my motivator is quality of life! Not crafting or painting or listening to an audio book while I sort. Those are the perks, but not the drivers this time. But that doesn't mean I can't find ways to make it fun, stay on track, and be sure that I achieve my goals. So I put together a printable to get myself started.

And because I plan to bribe you all to organize with me, I am giving you this printable for free here.

Let me just say it was fun designing a printable again. It has been far too long. It was a nice way to ramp up for the next Planner release! Moving on...

Using the form is really straight forward, but I thought I would show you an example of how it will help with each project I take on over the next few weeks.

My first step was to identify my four biggest problem areas. I selected the following:

• Master Bathroom
• Master Closet
• Both Vehicles
• Daily Schedules/Papers/Time Management

The example shown above is filled out for our Master Bathroom project. An important part of the process was also to set some sort of a due date goal. Because I want to tackle a new space each week, I selected the first Friday as my due date to complete the space.

Before just diving in, I really want to reflect on why the spaces got so bad. Sure, a lot of it is because we have just been too busy to maintain them. But I also questioned whether it is because we are just not utilizing our existing systems, or if the existing systems are truly failing us (and most of the time it is both). It is important to recognize both the good and the bad here; list out things that are working, and think about those yay-areas as you also reflect on what is not working.

Now that I know what is not working, I can start coming up with a plan for the organizing project. Things like addressing my make-up storage and dealing with too many un-used toiletries. And of course, each project always starts out with a good blank slate, a deep cleaning and a purging of clutter.

There is also a section on the printable to list out any organizational and storage needs. This is a good time to think about items you already own, what you can easily DIY, and what you may need to purchase.

And last but not least, give yourself some realistic goals to strive for over the course of each week. It is a busy time of the year with kids getting out of school, nightly sports and picnic dates at the park. So match up the Project Planner Printable with your personal calendar and utilize the space at the bottom of the form to schedule in your organizing tasks.

There! Not so bad! We have already recognized and planned! We are halfway there!

And because things are about to get real, and we are going to be ruthless, I got out my handy sorting signs!

I printed them, cut them, glued them to colored cardstock and pushed them through my laminator. Now, I can just clip them to any box, bin or basket during a good organizing session. Did I just hear that you would like a set for your organizing sessions as well? You can download the Sorting Signs for free here.

And if you are looking for more printables to help during the sorting, donating and decision making process, you can find my Donation Kit here.

Now for the REALLY fun part! My goal is to share my personal results with you each Friday. When I do, I am going to provide a place for you to link your project back to me! You don't need to have a blog to play along, you will be able to link from Instagram as well as other photo sharing sites. And remember that I said I was also going to bribe you to participate in this challenge with me? Because sometimes our own messes aren't motivation enough, I am going to use random.org to select one person from the link party each week to win a $50.00 Gift Card to one of my favorite organizing-friendly stores. Not sponsored, just my personal way of saying THANK YOU for hanging out with me.

The fun starts next week! I am not sure which space I will tackle first, but it is on! I can't wait to see what projects you all select.

So get out your sorting bins, print off your worksheet and labels and get ready to tackle the organizing projects you have been putting off for far too long. Your "Monica" closet is calling your name! You in?

dark chocolate dipped potato chips

So hey friends, I've got a little confession to make................I'm a movie theatre snack sneaker. As in I sneak my own snacks in to the movie theatre! Eeeek.........Please don't call the movie theatre police! I just have such a hard time paying $45,000 for popcorn and candy. I mean, I know I'm being a little overly dramatic but seriously how is a tub of popcorn like $10 at a movie theatre?! I just can't. I can't! I could buy a whole bottle of wine for that price! This doesn't mean I never buy popcorn......I do......sometimes........but I prefer to sneak in my own snacks. If that makes me a criminal, well I guess go ahead and lock me up and throw away the key.

The thing is popcorn, as some of you may well know, isn't "paleo". Not that I eat 100% perfect paleo all the time, but popcorn really doesn't sit well with me. It kind of upsets my stomach. At least that's the story I'm sticking to if I ever get caught sneaking in my own snacks. ;)

So I started making these bad boys for trips to the movies and holey-moley are they darn delicious! I mean, y'all, if you haven't had a dark chocolate dipped potato chip you basically haven't lived. For real! It's the perfect combination of salty and sweet and in my opinion, the very best snack to grub on while watching Tomorrowland with your family. Plus, and I'm not going to make the case for these are "healthy" but as compared to popcorn and a giant box of m&m's I'm saying these dipped chips are at least healthier. Plus, I always make regular potato and sweet potato chips, so we're getting a little dose of vitamin A in there too!

Ingredients:

- 1 cup dark chocolate chips (I use Chatfield's Double Dark Semi Sweet Chips. They're nut, dairy and soy free. Local peeps - Whole Foods carries them.)

- 1 tbsp coconut oil

- potato chips (I like Jackson's Honest Chips (Whole Foods), which are cooked in coconut oil, and Boulder Canyon (Kroger), the ones cooked in avocado oil. Jackson's makes regular potato chips too, but I prefer wavy potatoes for dipping in chocolate.)

Directions:

Add chocolate chips and coconut oil to a microwave safe bowl. Heat on high for 30 second intervals, mixing in between until completely melted. Dip your chips into the melted chocolate and spread out on parchment lined tray. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes. Done! Seriously, they are so easy to make! Pop them in a ziploc bag and sneak them in to the theatre this summer. But if you get caught don't blame me! ;)

The really great thing about these chocolate dipped chips - they are totally paleo approved - gluten, dairy, nut and soy free! So these are a great allergy friendly treat to serve at kid's parties!

Enjoy!

dining room tour and story

Happy Monday friends! It's the first Monday of our summer break, so I'm allowed to be a little too cheerful for a Monday right?! Don't worry though, my enthusiasm for summer break will probably be over by the end of the week when my kids start talking about "how bored" they are. #thesummerstruggle

Today I'm continuing on with the room tours. As you know I'm slowly but surely updating the house tour photos for the blog, and as I do I'm resharing the makeover stories. Today, I'm sharing the story of our dining room.

The dining room is to the left of our entry foyer when you walk in the house.

This room went through quite the dramatic makeover. She was previously outfitted with wallpaper, a shiny brass chandy, and wall to wall white carpet.

The wallpaper wasn't awful at all. It just wasn't really my style. Removing it definitely helped me to formulate my plan. For me it's easier to think up a design plan when you're looking at a blank space. So maybe that could be a little tip for you if you're struggling with a space in your home. Bring it down to the bare bones and maybe that will get your creative juices flowing a bit more. That always works out pretty well for me.

Now, let's take a minute to talk about why white wall to wall carpet in a dining room is always a no. Always. No. Just. No. I can't think of anything more impractical than white carpet in a place where you eat.......and in our case where you drink red wine. Without a doubt ripping out the carpet for wood floors was the best and most dramatic change to the room.

Next up was selling our hand-me-down furniture. My first move was to give this table and chairs a little makeover and move them into the breakfast room. Then after a few years I sold them on Craig's List. There was once a time when my style was a bit more formal and this furniture suited me. However, if your style evolves I don't think you should force yourself to hang on to pieces you don't love for the sake of the fact that it once belonged to a relative. So I let this furniture go and brought in pieces that I really love. The less formal looking table and chairs (from World Market) definitely brought down the traditional feel of the room and gave it a more casual every day look which suits us so much better. To dress up the wood chairs just a bit I added antique brass ring pulls to the backs.

I went with a very light color on the walls, Waverly Cafe Cream, and I painted the ceiling in Martha Stewart Macadamia, which is the color on the walls in the adjoining kitchen. To bring in some pattern and create a focal point I stenciled one wall with an ikat pattern in Valspar Cooled Lava. I love the bold pattern, and I've not grown tired of it yet. I've toyed around with the idea of painting the dining room walls black, but I just can't seem to pull the trigger on that mainly because I still love this stenciled wall so much!

The chandy was another one of those "marriage compromises". I took the shiny brass chandy down, spray painted it pink and hung it my daughter's room. I wanted to bring in an antique crystal chandy which I thought would be great over this rustic style table, but my hub wanted something a bit more "masculine" or really just something not too girly - his words not mine. So, I found this wrought iron fixture at The Home Depot that fit his "masculine" preference, and then I added on some of the extra glass crystals, that came with the chandy in our breakfast room, with some twine. And all is right in the world as we both got a little of what we wanted. ;)

The chalkboard panels hung over the vintage dresser turned buffet were a super simple diy project involving closet mirrors and chalkboard paint.

On the wall opposite the stencil wall I hung a gallery wall of special family photos.

I kept the color palette of this gallery wall really tight only using black and metallic gold or silver frames. I know a gallery wall isn't typically a dining room thing, but I love the way this gallery of family photos makes this room feel warm and welcoming. I didn't want our dining room to feel too special or too formal to use for everyday.

And that brings us to the end of our dining room tour. Slowly but surely we're making our way around the house! And hopefully resharing these makeover stories will help to get me motivated to finally do something with our laundry room. One can only hope. ;)

Let's have a great week!