Hello, today for my Five Faves with Annie and Cindy, I want to tell you about a fast makeover of my son-in-law’s free-standing garage into a home office and workout room, why I caved for a faux Christmas tree, a tasty recipe for a Chinese dish you can make at home, and more.
1. Spare Garage To Home Office And Workout Room In Two Hours
When I was in Los Angeles visiting recently, my son-in-law, Luca asked me to look at their spare garage/storage unit. He wanted to make it a home office and workout room.
This is realistic to do where you have mild weather. They have a portable A/C unit for the summer.
Not one to waste any time (I only had two days with my 2-month-old granddaughter), I said:
- Let’s take everything out.
- Clean everything (very important to feel fresh).
- Take the 9 x 12 Ruggable rug that you aren’t using to the laundromat to wash and dry.
- Draw a floor plan.
- Move furnishings back in from the garage or from inside the house like art and lamps.
- Discard what doesn’t work.
We got to work and were finished in about two hours! We didn’t spend money on anything except the cost of cleaning the rug. And Luca bought a blower to keep leaves away on the patio and from getting into the garage.
They have a Peloton, weights, a mirror, and a yoga mat. I think an adjustable workout bench like this one would also be nice here. (Christmas present?).
2. Pillow Insert Investigation
Plump pillow inserts are so important for a plush designer look.
I have recommended Interior Linens inserts for years but they seem to have disappeared! According to their Facebook page, perhaps The Company Store bought them. The Company Store is a good company and they have 20″ square firm down and feather inserts that look good. But no 22″ square inserts.
Then, I read this article by Spruce:
“The 8 Best Pillow Inserts of 2022”. I ordered a 24″ synthetic down insert for a 22″ pillow cover on Amazon. I will report back. Please leave any suggestions in the comments!
3. How An Artificial Christmas Tree Won Me Over
Never in my life have I wanted a fake tree until now. Here’s why:
- No one wants to do the work of putting the lights on.
- Real trees dry out before Christmas.
- The pine needles make a big mess.
I saw the artificial trees from King Of Christmas and met their representatives at Haven (bloggers’ conference) this summer and was impressed. They offered to give me one for my honest media exposure on Instagram.
This is the King Noble Pre-lit 9′ tree. I really wasn’t prepared for how EASY it is to put together. For a 9′ tree, just four pieces stack together and the branches fall into place. It comes with a remote.
While we were hunkering down during Hurricane Nicole it was cheerful to turn the Christmas tree on.
The trees are on major sale right now. I don’t know for how much longer or if the trees will sell out. So check them out here.
The basket tree collar is from Ballard. This is the large…I may have been ok with the smaller one.
4. Kung Pao Chicken You Can Make At Home
This is adapted from the New York Times recipe by Emily Weinstein.
Howard added the peanuts to the dish and topped it with chopped scallions. I like brown rice but don’t complain since he is making the dish 🙂 I DO wash the dishes.
- 1 lb pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into ½-inch chunks
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- salt and pepper
- 1 1/2 tbsp tablespoons Chinkiang (black) vinegar or balsamic vinegar
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1/4 cup neutral oil, such as grapeseed
- 1/2 cup small dried red chiles (or less if you don't like too spicy)
- 1/4 cup roasted peanuts (if desired)
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Mix the chicken, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, and a big pinch of salt and pepper in a bowl until evenly coated. Let sit while you prepare the sauce.
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Stir the vinegar, sugar, remaining 2 tablespoons soy sauce and 1 teaspoon cornstarch in a small bowl.
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Combine the oil and chiles in a wok or large nonstick skillet, and set over medium heat. When the chiles start to sizzle and brown, about 15 seconds, push them to one side of the pan. Add the chicken to the other side all at once and spread in a single, even layer. Cook, without moving the pieces, until the bottoms are dark golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. If the chiles start to blacken, put them on top of the chicken so that they don’t burn.
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Using a large spatula, flip the chicken in portions. Cook just until the meat almost loses all of its pinkness, 1 to 2 minutes more. Stir the sauce and pour it into the pan. Stir until the sauce thickens and slicks the chicken evenly. Immediately transfer to a plate and serve hot.
5. Cute Children’s Clothes From The Gap
Well, I’m back to the Gap for kid’s clothes again! This smocked floral dress set is well-made and on sale. This is size 0 to 3 months and it goes up to 18 to 24 months.
Louisa feels cute.
If you are new here, each Sunday I share my top five favorite things along with my friends, Cindy and Annie. It’s like our weekly “catch-up” phone call. If you would like to receive this series every week, please sign up HERE.
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I have been happy with down and feather inserts from https://comfydown.com/, so have a couple of my friends. You can get just about any size. I usually buy my inserts a couple of inches bigger than the pillow cover dimensions.
HI Mary Ann
Wow great work on that office/workout room! Don’t you love a project that you can actually finish and see results in the same afternoon?!
I’m considering a faux tree for this year, yours looks nice! Pre-lit, and I love that they can hold heavy ornaments.
Louisa is adorable and must be super cuddly!
Glad you literally weathered the storm. Hope there aren’t any more down your way.
Xo Heidi
Hi Mary Ann,
Oh, my goodness, Louisa is so adorable. Love the outfit and her smile (a seal of approval).
I have always read good things about the trees at King of Christmas. I will be buying one if my current tree goes out. For now, I just love faux trees for easy installation.
I’m seeing trees up in a lot of Orange County, CA. We all seem eager to welcome the season.
Karen B.
MA, I’m devastated to hear about Interior Linens. I need to order inserts for the large pillows that came with our sofa. I’ll be interested to hear what you think of the 24″ you ordered. Amazing garage transformation. I would kill for that office space. Thoughtful touch to provide a nice bike to hang my sweatshirt on. Just pinned and printed your chicken recipe … yum. xo
The office came out great, can’t believe you accomplished that in 2 hours! We caved and bought a faux tree from Balsam Hill a few years ago. I love that I can put it up earlier that I would have with a real one. And it has so many lights! I do miss the smell a lot but try to make up for it with candles. My husband does not miss a real tree as every year his allergies would kick up.
Louisa is so cute…looks like dad I think!
Linda
Mary Ann,
I am so impressed with your garage makeover. It no longer looks like a garage! I can’t believe you did it in two hours and already used what you (Ali and Luca) had! You are so amazing! And gosh, Louisa is adorable! When is your next trip to LA?
xx
The tree looks great. Personally I love the smell of a real tree and have learned to keep those spruce needles on for weeks…..BUT there is also a place/time for an artificial tree so both are a win for me.
What I do not like is the trend to have some kind of barrel/basket around the base of the tree instead of a tree skirt. The skirt ties the presents to the tree because the presents sit on the skirt under the tree. The darned barrel/basket leaves it looking like the presents are disjointed from the tree…..kind of like they are tossed in the direction of the tree but not connected. And if the tree is real it makes it hard to water. I am sure that others love the barrels/basket but to my eye it often looks like the tree is standing in a garbage can lol
Hi Mary Ann,
The makeover you created for the office and workout room turned out great and in 2 hours, wow, that is what teamwork can accomplish together.
Louisa looks so beautiful in the smocked floral dress, and the matching headband. It looks like she is ready for a cover shoot.
The tree is beautiful, good for you for simplifying your life. I understand there are products out on the market if you are looking to create that fern Christmas tree fragrance.
Yes, I love those Frazier Fir candles!! Thanks for commenting.
Lovely garage transformation, and much needed space in the smaller but very expensive LA first homes (my brother and sister-in-law had one in Santa Monica very similar to your children’s home ). Winter mild weather is one of the best things about SoCal! And thanks for the easy Kung Pao Chicken recipe! BTW: one of my favorite purchases at Trader Joe’s is their organic frozen brown rice: it saves 40 minutes of cooking and a pot!
Good to know about the frozen brown rice! Then I can have brown while Howard has white.
Check out Tonic Living for pillow inserts. I like the faux down ones.
Thanks for the tip! I have gotten their ads.
That is a nice Christmas tree. We’ve been using artificial Christmas trees for years, and a few years ago I decided to splurge on one. I’ve always wanted a snow frosted tree, plus we needed one no taller than 6′, as our ceilings are unfortunately on 7’4″ high. I ended up getting ours from Balsam Hill, the Frosted Yukon Spruce, on sale, and I’m absolutely in love. It too, is easy to set up. It really is amazing what a difference a well made, realistic looking tree, can make.
And the garage remake, looks amazing.
Thanks, Jill. I’m happy with ours!
Mary Ann, Great idea of them making this an office/ workout- looks great. I ahem ordered many of the Pillowflex insets and they wear well. I love them I changes mine out last year to get rid of most of the feather inserts and they chop down like the feather ones. Love seeing Louisa in that darling outfit. Good for you getting that tree. Looks lovely!!
Great tip, Kim. Thanks so much.
That is an incredible makeover! You are the bomb! That sweater comes in a great neutral too, it is soft as a kitten! That little Louisa is so darn adorable. She already looks like she has such personality! Love the pic of her on Luca’s lap…so sweet!! I
I’m going to look for the neutral sweater back on your blog!
Love your post today – great garage makeover, and in only 2 hrs. Impressive! Im going to check out the Christmas trees and pillow inserts. Thanks!!
Thanks so much, Susan!
Lovely post thank you !! We need to do that with our garage except my son has a vintage Mustang in there he wants to refinish and currently he is overseas. Hey ho…Such a beautiful dress for your granddaughter ! She looks so happy 🙂
That’s cool about the vintage car!!
Such an eclectic and interesting Sunday post. Wish I had a granddaughter so that I had a reason to buy the adorable smocked dress.
Thanks, Carolina!!!